■■.!..:-.. 'W-y'Mff' 





OLD GLOUCESTER COUNTY COURT HOUSE, 
A T WOODBURY. 

FROM SKETCH BY FRANK H. TAYLOR 



NOTES ON 



Old Gloucester County 



NEW JERSEY 



Historical Records Published by 
The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 



volume I 



Compiled and Edited by 
FRANK H. STEWART 

HISTORIAN OF THE SOCIETY 
1917 



Fl4± 



Copyrighted 1917, by 
The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 



M -2 1318 



Printed by 

Sinnickson Chew & Sons Company 

Camden, New Jersey 



©CI.A4812US 



New Jersey 

Down from thy hills the streams go leaping, 
Up from thy shores the tides come creeping, 
In bay and river the waters meet, 
Singing and singing with rhythmic beat 
Songs no orchestra may repeat, 
New Jersey! 

Fled from the southern sun's fierce burning, 
Back from the chill of the north wind turning, 

With mayflowers decking her form so rare 

And magnolias redolent in her hair, 

Queen Flora rests on thy bosom fair, 
New Jersey ! 

Lakes the feet of thy mountains are laving. 

Over thy plains the forests are waving, 

Across thy meadows and marshes and sands 
Orchards and farms are clasping their hands, 
Garden of States in fairest of lands ! 
New Jersey ! 

Smoke from thy cities' chimneys rising 

Looms to the sky, a Genius surprising, — 

A Genius whose touch to new visions gives birth, 
Of homes rejoicing in music and mirth, 
And song floating everywhere over the earth, 
New Jersey ! 

Quaker and Dutchman, long ago meeting, 
Hailed thy shores with immigrants' greeting, 
And still on the old home sites to-day 
Their children's children sturdily stay, 
Glad for thy progress and leading the way, 
New Jersey! 

Mother, dear Mother, thy sons are proclaiming 

Loyalty; with their banners aflaming 

The Jersey Blues still march at thy side, 
Eager to cheer thee with love and with pride, 
Ready to guard thee, whatever betide. 
New Jersey! 

James Lane Pennypacker, 

Haddonfield, June 2, 1917. 



The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 

PHILADELPHIA 

The action of The New Jersey Society of Pennsyl- 
vania in causing to be printed the "Notes on Old Glouces- 
ter County, New Jersey," compiled by Mr. Frank H. 
Stewart, the Historian of the Society, was the result of a 
motion made at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the 
Society, held on May 4th, 191 7. 

At that meeting the following action was taken : 

On motion duly made by Mr. John W. Sparks, and seconded 
by Mr. George B. Hurff, the Chair appointed Messrs. Mulford and 
Stewart a committee of two to act in conjunction with the Ban- 
quet Committee, and cause to be printed at the expense of the 
Society and distributed at the annual banquet of the Society, to be 
held on December 18th, 1917, copies of "Notes on Old Gloucester 
County," written and edited by the Historian of the Society, Mr. 
Frank H. Stewart. 

WILLIAM J. CONLEN, Secretary. 



FOREWORD 

All over the State of New Jersey there are priceless 
historical and genealogical manuscript records gradually 
decaying and wearing away. Every year destruction by 
fire, age and carelessness takes place. Books and papers 
of a public nature are in private hands, sometimes rightly 
and oftentimes otherwise. Before it is too late legisla- 
tion should be enacted providing at Trenton or elsewhere 
a fire-proof building suitable for preserving and making 
accessible the old unknown and unused records that are 
now stored in boxes or jammed in drawers in the various 
county buildings. In all of the New Jersey counties are 
marriage records. These by all means should be printed 
in the New Jersey Archives. Various Church records of 
great value for the vital statistics they contain are stowed 
away in attics and every time the clergyman changes loss 
is likely to occur. Township records, unrecorded deeds, 
ancient diaries, surveyors' maps, church documents and 
letters are invariably in private hands, and many of the 
owners would gladly give them to the State of New Jer- 
sey if a proper custody were provided. 

The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania believes it 
can do a noble work by publishing, from time to time, 
county by county, as its funds permit, the most important 
happenings of a historical character. With nothing but 
a deep desire to preserve worthy records, the compiler 
has possibly followed an unique course in the belief that 
the ordinary man is selfish enough to desire that the his- 
tory of his family should be forever saved. Therefore, 



6 Foreword. 

if this publication should seem to be over-burdened with 
names it is because of the wish to impress on as many 
people as possible that they have a personal family inter- 
est in the records that will not exist a few years hence 
if immediate action is not taken either to copy them or 
safeguard the originals. 

The compilation of this book has taken altogether 
several months of time, and to many kind friends whose 
names appear as authors of different papers the Society 
here makes acknowledgment. The names of the con- 
tributors are George E. Pierson, Wallace McGeorge, M. 
D., Louis B. Moffett, Rev. Edgar Campbell, George B. 
Macaltioner, Gideon Peaslee, Frank H. Taylor, James 
L. Pennypacker and Samuel N. Rhoads. 

To other good friends who have otherwise assisted 
by making easily accessible countless pages of manuscript 
records the compiler is indebted. 

Frank H. Stewart. 



Contents 



Page. 

New Jersey, a poem 3 

Gloucester County Court Records, 1686 to 1799 9-28 

Old Trinity Church, Swedesboro 29 

Battle of Red Bank 35 

Gloucester County Merchant 51 

Township Book of Great Egg Harbor 55 

Inn and Tavern Licenses 60 

Slavery in Old Gloucester 65 

King's Highway 69 

Moravian Church 77 

Gloucester County Freeholders' Records, 1701 to 1800 87-132 

James B. Cooper, a Hero of Two Wars 133 

Gen. Franklin Davenport 139 

Col. Thomas Heston 143 

The Indian King 147 

Woodbury Fire Company 151 

Samuel Mickle's Diary 155 

Job Whitall's Diary 255 

Spelling of Family Names 261 

First Quakers in Old Gloucester 263 

Ancient Burial Places 265 

Old Gloucester County, its Formation and its Divisions 289 

Distinguished Clergymen 291 

Haddon Hall, of Haddonfield 293 

Journal of Thomas Clark 303 

Battle of Chestnut Neck 307 

Life of Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr 309 

Custom House of Little Egg Harbor 313 

Diary of Ann Whitall 315 

Historical Notes 317 

Gloucester Fox Hunting Club 322 

Docket of John Litle, J. P 325 

Historical References 329 

Officers, Committees and Members of The New Jersey Society 

of Pennsylvania 332-336 

Index 337 



Illustrations 



Page. 

Old Gloucester County Courthouse, 1787-1885 Frontispiece 

Defying the Hessians, Red Bank 34 

Old Milestone on King's Highway 68 

Old Moravian Church 76 

Indian King Tavern, Haddonfield 146 

Woodbury Fire Engine, 1799 ISO 

Old Tatem Oak, Mt. Royal 154 

Proprietors' Tree at Gloucester 254 

Graveyard, Moravian Church 264 

Elizabeth Haddon House 292 



Notes on Old Gloucester County 

Gloucester County Court Records* 

Two hundred and thirty-one years ago Gloucester 
county was established, and despite the fact that several 
fires have occurred in the County Court houses since then, 
the Court records still exist in fair condition after the 
ravages of time and use are considered. Gloucester 
county was the first county in America established by its 
inhabitants. The first page of the first Court book con- 
tains the following: 

Gloucester ye 28th May, 1686 

By the Proprietors, Freeholders and inhabitants of 
the Third and Fourth Tenths (Alias County of Glouces- 
ter) then agreed as followeth : 

Imprimis — That a Court be held for the Jurisdiction and 
limits of the aforesaid Tenths or County one 
Tyme at Axnamus alias Gloucester and an- 
other tyme at Red Bank. 

Item — That there be four courts for the Jurisdiction 
aforesaid held in one year at ye days and tymes 
hereafter mentioned viz, upon the first day of the 
first month, upon the first day of the fourth month, 
on the first day of the seventh month and upon ye 
first day of the tenth month. 

Item — That the first Court shall be held at Gloucester 
aforesaid upon the first day of September next. 

Item — That all warrants and summons shall be drawne 
by the Clerke of the Courte and signed by a Justice 
and soe delivered to the Sheriff or his Deputy to 
execute. 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 

1 



io Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Item — That the bodye of each warrant &c shall Contayne 

or Intimate the nature of action. 
Item — That a copy of the Declaration be given along 

with ye warrant by the Clerke of the Court that 

soe the defendant may have the longer tyme to 

considder the same and prepare his answer. 
Item — That all summons warrants &c shall be served and 

declaration given at least ten days before the 

Court. 
Item — That the Sheriffe shall give the jury summons six 

dayes before the Courte be held at which they are 

to appear. 
Item — That all persons within ye jurisdiction aforesaid 

bring into the next Courte ye marks of their 

Hoggs and other Cattell in order to be approved 

and recorded. 

The Ear Mark Book. 

This book contains about two hundred and fifty ear 
mark registrations, and is a practical directory of all of 
the first settlers of the county, beginning at 1686. A fac 
simile copy of the book has been made by request of the 
writer and is now in The Genealogical Society of Penna., 
1300 Locust street, Philadelphia. 

Many of the members of the New Jersey Society of 
Pennsylvania will find the hog ear marks of their ancestors 
in this book. 

All of the old counties of New Jersey had their ear 
mark books, and they, together with other priceless records 
of the Colony of New Jersey, should be printed by author- 
ity of the State as part of the New Jersey Archives, and I 
know of no greater privilege or duty than this for our 
Society to accomplish. Ear marks were handed down 
from father to son and in some cases transferred as a 
trade-mark would be to-day. 

In the court records of the old counties of New Jer- 
sey frequent mention is made of the unlawful killing of 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. ii 

hogs in the woods. Negro slaves loved bacon then as their 
descendants do to this day, and how to keep a husky negro 
slave away from a good fat acorn fed hog was a problem 
that oftentimes had its finish in the court records of Glou- 
cester, Salem and Burlington counties. 

A long snouted, agile, wild boar hog- furnished better 
sport for a gunner than a jack rabbit would to-day, and it 
is not without pleasure that I mention the names of the 
following sportsmen of old Gloucester, predecessors of the 
famous fox hunting club : 

At the Sept., 1690, Court held at Gloucester, Israel 
Holme, Mons Justeson and William Cobb were "indicted 
for their unlawful hunting and killing of Hoggs." 

In 1697, J onn Ashbrook, John Hugg, Jr., Amos 
Whiteall, Samuel Taylor, Robert Parker, Charles Cross- 
thwait were also indicted for killing Hogs in the woods 
contrary to law. 

Court House and Prison 

It was just as necessary to have a good substantial 
jail in 1696 as now. The following appears in the court 
records of that year: 

"The Court orders that a prison of twenty foot long 
and sixteen feet wide of a sufficient Height and strength 
made of loggs be erected and builded in Gloucester with 
a Court House over the same of a convenient height and 
largeness Covered of and with Cedar shingles well and 
workmanlike to be made and with all convenient expedi- 
tion furnished." 

Twelve years later it seemed desirable to make an 
addition to the prison and court house, and it will be 
noticed that brick and stone took the place of logs in the 
new edifice. In order to get the money by taxation a 
plan was formulated by the grand jury and then as now 
there were some delinquent tax payers of the assessments 



12 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

made for the addition to the public buildings. It is sur- 
mised that Matthew Medcalf, the County Treasurer, had 
some trouble in keeping the various cereals turned in to 
him in payment of taxes at "money price." For two or 
three years afterwards it appears that some of the inhabi- 
tants had not paid their share of this special tax made in 
accordance with the following: 

Wee the Grand Jury of the County of Gloucester 
being met together this 5th Day of the 8th Month 1708 
* * * conclude it necessary that an addition be made to 
the prison and Court House in manner following vis., 
that it Joyne to the South End of the old one, to be made 
of stone and brick twelve foot in ye cleare and two story 
high with a stack of chimneys joyning to the old house so 
that it be uniform in breadth to the Court House from the 
foundation. 

Tax 

A tax was laid for the cost as follows : 

For every hundred acres of land taken up and sur- 
veyed one shilling 

For every horse and mare exceeding three years old 
one shilling 

For cattle exceeding three years old six pence 

For sheep exceeding one year old two pence 

For each free man in hired service or otherwise three 
shillings 

For each negro exceeding twelve years old three 
shillings 

to be paid into the county treasurer at or before the first 
day of the first month next ensuing the date hereof either 
in current silver money or corn or any other country pro- 
duce at money price to be delivered and brought into ye 
County Treasurer at his dwelling house by the respective 
inhabitants within the time aforesaid. 

Matthew Medcalf was appointed County Treasurer. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 13 

Assessors 
The following assessors were appointed : 
Samuel Cole for Waterford twp. 
William Albertson for Newton. 
John Siddon for Gloucester. 
John Ladd for Debtford twp. 
William Dalbo & Elias Fish for Greenwich twp. 
John Summors for Egg Harbour. 

All to receive six pence per pound for assessing the same 
and to give the people notice and for making of the dupli- 
cates ready to deliver to* the treasurer the first of the 
tenth month next. The County Treasurer was also allow- 
ed six pence per pound for his services. 

Farm Produce as Currency 

Currency was a scarce article in New Jersey, and 
Gloucester county in 1686 placed the products of the 
field on a currency basis and, if a citizen could not pay 
his taxes with money, cereals were acceptable at the fol- 
lowing valuations : 

S. d. 

Wheat @ 40 

Rye 3 o 

Barley 3 o 

Indian corn 2 6 

Oats 2 o 

Indian peas 5 o 

Buckwheat 2 6 per bushel 

At the end of the June 1703 term of Court held at 
Gloucester is this inscription 

Here end the Proprietary 
Government of ye province of 
West New Jersie in America. 



14 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Old Roads and Bridges 

A careful reading of the court records concerning 
the marking, building and repairing of the first highways 
shows much of interest to the historian and users of the 
roads. 

It seems that the inhabitants of a section in which a 
road was to be built were ordered to help, and when they 
refused were fined. Where repairs were necessary the 
overseer was told when to have the job done or suffer a 
fine for neglect or tardiness. The comfort of the indi- 
vidual was always subservient to the necessities of the 
times as is shown by the quaint words of the old records. 

In 1686 several of the persons summoned to build 
the road between Salem and Burlington by Wolly Dalbo 
surveyor having refused to obey the order of the court 
were fined six shillings each. 

Dec. 1, 1696: The Grand Jury return and present 
John Hopman for not repairing of ye Bridge on Salem 
Road within his provimet. 

The Bench order that ye Bridge and Road be re- 
paired within ye space of six weeks next or H — to pay 
20 shillings fine for his neglect. 

In 1696 James Steelman elected overseer of ye high- 
ways to mark and make the road from Egg Harbour to- 
wards Gloucester and that he have power to summon to- 
gether ye Inhabitants of Egg Harbour to that purpose. 

In 1698 the Grand Jury ordered the highway be- 
tween Gloucester and Great Egg Harbor to be repaired 
and made good at or before the 29th of Sept. Next. 

1698: A Court held at Gloucester, March 1st, 1698 
Thos. Revel, Joseph Tomlinson, Joseph Broman, Mord. 
Howell, John Somers, Justices Present. 

Complaint having been made to ye Bench that a 
Bridge over a Branch of Pensoaken Creek above Richard 
Heritage's is either broken down or wants much repara- 
tion whereupon ye Bench orders that ye clerk send to 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 15 

Thomas Shackle overseers of ye Highways and together 
with Richard Heritage to see that ye said Bridge be 
mended and made good on or before ye next Gloucester 
Court under ye penalty of being then and there fined for 
their neglect. 

1 70 1 : The Grand Jury does agree that ye lower 
Road to Salem shall be upheld with this proviso. That ye 
Bridge over Timber Creek be built and that ye said 
Bridge be Builded without a county charge to which ye 
Bench assents. 

In 1708 William Warner and Mat. Medcalfe at the 
request of John Wood and his neighbors "laid out a way 
for the use of the people of Dedford twp. avoiding the 
swamps and low wet grounds from John Woods' house 
to Henry Threadways to a fast landing upon the branch 
of Woodbury Creek called Matthews his branch where 
was formerly and now must be made a bridge." From 
there over the said branch and causeway through the 
swamp to the fast land on the other side of the branch in 
a direct line to Thomas Nixons field and so along the 
outside of the said field straight to the King's Road near 
Dedford Bridge which said way is to be 16 ft. wide. 

1709: The overseers for the highways appointed 
were John Mickle for Gloucester town. 

William Clarke and Nathaniel Chew for Gloucester 
twp. 

Joseph Collins and John Hinchman for Newtowne. 
John Chevers (Shivers) and John Heritage for 
Waterford. 

Joshua Lord and John Cook for Debtford, Wollo 
Peterson and Andrew Lock for Greenwich. 

In 1 7 10 Joseph Yard was fined twenty shillings for 
his contempt in cutting the Bridge over Gloucester River. 
1712: "Whereas there was complaint made unto 
us the under written commissioners that there was need 
of a road from the head of Timber Creek where the old 
road to Salem formerly went down to Gloucester. Pur- 



i6 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

suant to an act of assembly that impowers us in these 
cases we have layde out a road commonly called the Irish 
Roade as followeth Beginning at Porters Mill and from 
thence falling into the Old Roade that went to Burlington 
and along the same over Sheeyanees Run from thence to 
other branch and thence over the hills to Beaver Branch 
by John Huggs plantation thence to the Brick kills upon 
Elias Huggs land and from thence upon a straight course 
to the little Bridge and from thence along the King's 
Roade to Gloucester layde out by us the third day of 
December 171 2. 

Rich. Bull 1 n . , „ 
ata n h Lommis s 

Tho. Sharp j 



Coopers Ferry Road 

"This 3d day of ye 2d mo. 1721. 
Pursuant to an act of General Assembly Instituted 
an act for laying out of Public high Roads &c, in the 
province of New Jersey, application being made unto us 
the survey's under named to lay out a Road from the 
ferry of William Cooper until it intersect the Road from 
Newton to the mill. Beginning at delloware River on ye 
south side ye Bolting house then south easterly sixty five 
degrees to ye gate entering said Williams plantation then 
south easterly thirty two degrees then south easterly 
forty degrees then south easterly fourty four degrees then 
south easterly forty degrees then southeasterly twenty 
degrees then southeasterly seventy degrees to the old Road 
against Arthur Powells house and to along the same to the 
intersection aforesaid to be four Rod wide on the south 
side of these courses layd out by us the day and year 
aforesaid. 

Thos. Spicer Thomas Sharp 

Alexander Morgan I Joseph Cooper 
John Mickle Joseph Hugg" 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 17 

From a fragmentary record the following is gleaned, 
probably 1727. 

"We the subscribers thought proper and necessary to 
alter a certain road in ye County of Gloucester in the 
Township of Dedford that formerly run between John 
Tatems plantation and the Presbyterian Meeting House 

on ye side of the King's roade, etc. & etc. 

Benjamin Watt Isaac Jennings 

John Siddons John Hin 

Saml. Hedge Cobus 

Aaron Mason James W " 

This is the first mention of the Presbyterian Church 
at Woodbury. 

New Roads 

"In 1726 application was made for four rod road 
which was laid out in Gloucester County beginning where 
the old road lay from Salem to Burlington thence to the 
Saw pitt on the Road commonly called Cohocken Road 
and from thence to Mollicas meadow and from thence to 
the Cedar Swamp road and along the said road to the 
King's Road thence to Robert Garrords and from thence 
to a landing place in Manta Creek commonly called by 
the name of Garrords Landing." 

"At about the same time there was another road laid 
out from Nath. Champions to the King's Road starting 
between the said Champion and the widow Champion to 
the south side of John Shivers over Gadsbys Bridge to 
the King's Road. This was a two rod road." 

Cooper Creek Ferry 

In 1 701, we have an early case of the Public Utility 
Commission. Good old John Champion, the ancestor of 
an army of present day Champions, did not always feel 
like discontinuing his work when some lone traveler came 
to the banks of Cooper's creek and hollered for John to 



1 8 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

get his boat and take the aforesaid traveler across the 
ferry. He appeared before the Grand Jury and dickered 
for a new rate of fare to which the Judges assented. 

The record as written by that fine penman, John 
Reading, Clerk of the Court, follows : 

"1701 : John Champion complained of the great 
cost in setting people over Coopers Creek at his house 
and the Grand Jury proposed that in case he would pro- 
vide sufficient conveniences for the ferriage of people at 
all times that he might charge for two persons together 
two pence a head ; for one single person three pence, and 
for a man and a horse four pence, to which the Bench 
assented." 

Road Houses 

Accommodations for travelers were first provided by 
persons having residences in the main lines of travel. In 
1700, Stephen Jones was granted a license for keeping an 
ordinary at his dwelling house on the Salem Road. Mat- 
thew Medcalf at this time and for several years previous 
was keeping an ordinary in Gloucester. 

Cost op Living 

To give some idea of the cost of things during the 
year 1742, the following is copied from the court records : 

An Ordinance of the rates of liquors and eatables for 
men, provender and pasture for horses to be observed and 
kept by all the Public House Keepers, inn keepers or 
Tavern Keepers in the county of Gloucester for the en- 
suing year as followeth, viz : 

Every pint of Madeira Wine is o 

Every quart bowl of punch made of loaf sugar good 

rum and fresh limes 1" 6 

Every like Bowl of Punch made with lime juice. . . 1" 4 
Every quart of Mimbo made of Muscooda sugar. . o" 8 

Every quart of Methegline 1" o 

" " Cider royal o" 8 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 19 

Every quart of Egg punch iso 

" ' " " Milk " o" 8 

" Cyder from 1st of Sept. to 1st of 

Jan o" 3 

Jan. 1st to 1st of Sept o" 4 

Every quart of strong beer o" 4 

" gill of brandy o" 6 

" " other Cordial drams o" 5 

" " Rum o" 3 

And so in proportion for greater or smaller quanti- 
ties for each sort. 

Every breakfast of tea, coffee or chocolate o s 8 

Every breakfast of other victuals o" 6 

Every hot dinner or supper provided for a single 

person with a pint of strong beer or cyder. ... 1" o 
Every hot dinner or supper for a Company with a 

quart of strong beer or cyder each 1" o 

Every cold dinner or supper with a pint of strong 

beer or cyder each o" 8 

Every nights lodging each person o" 3 

Horses, etc. 

Stabling every horse each night and clover hay 

enough os8 

Stabling each night and other hay enough o" 6 

Every night pasture for a horse o" 6 

Every two quarts of oats or other grains o" 3 

Surveyors in 1744 

Robert Stephens, Joseph Ellis, Jacon Alberson, Ebenezer 
Brown, Simeon Ellis, Michael Chew, John Wilkins. 
These names appear as surveyors in description of a 

road running by Daniel Eastlack, John Breacher, Joseph 

Zane, James Graysberry. Mill Creek and Ferry roads 

are mentioned. 



20 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

Imprisonment for Debt 

1746 : Richard Hammon a prisoner under execution 
in the gaol of the county for a debt of eighteen pounds at 
the suite of Marmaduke Peacock exhibited his petition 
to have ye benefit of the act of this province for the re- 
lief of insolvent debtors and having signed ye schedule 
of his estate and being examined and having taken the 
oath in court prescribed by the said act of assembly. On 
motion of Mr. Rose, ordered that he be remanded to 
prison till next term. At the next court he was dis- 
charged from custody. 

Taverns in 1748. 

Benjn. Cooper, Gab. Friend, Daniel Cooper, Anna Elli- 
son and Nehemiah Cowgill were licensed to keep 
public houses. 

1762: John Sparks, John Brien, James Steelman, Jere- 
miah Steelman, Sam'l Matlack, Robert Maddox, 
Samuel Scull, Peter Risley, Sam'l Wickward, John 
Pinyard, Wm. Hugg and Daniel Cooper were licen- 
sed as innkeepers for 1 year. 

In 1767 Licenses to Keep Public Houses of Enter- 
tainment were granted : 

Thos. Thompson, Greenwich. Thos. James, Woolwich. 
Henry Sparks, Deptford. Sam'l Snell, Egg Har- 
bour. Henry Thorne, Gloucester. Jonathon Aborn, 
Gloucester. Wm. Falkner, Newton. Geo. May, 
Egg Harbour. Ann Risley, Egg Harbour. James 
Steelman, Egg Harbour. Thos. Bacon, Woolwich. 
Thos. Bishop, Gloucester. Richard Thorne, Timber 
Creek. Wm. Hugg, Gloucester Town. 

In 1770 Public House Licenses were issued to: 

Wm. Cooper, Samuel Morril, Newton twp. Christopher 
Sickler, Robert Mattocks, Jon'n Aborn, Gloucester 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 21 

twp. Wm. Hugg, Wm. Gerrard, Gloucester town. 
Ann Risley, Samuel Snell, Great Egg Harbour twp. 
Mary Hutchenson, Thomas James, Woolwich twp. 
Martha Pinyard, Greenwich twp. Benj. Rambo, 
Deptford twp. Francis Willson, Waterford twp. 

Missing Records 

The Court records for the years 1748 to 1755 are 
missing from the bound volumes, but may be loose in one 
of the many boxes in the Court House. 

Attorneys' Commissions 

1760: Sam'l Allenson having produced to this 
Court the Governor's license or commission appointing 
him an Attorney at Law in all Courts of Record within 
this province and containing a command to all Judges and 
Justices to admit him accordingly which being now read 
the Court admits the said Samuel Allenson to practice as 
an Attorney at Law in this Court in pursuance thereof. 

In 1763 Robert Friend Price produced a similar com- 
mission appointing him high sheriff of Gloucester Co. 

Grand Jurors eor 1766 
Sept. term 1766 Grand Jury: 
Joseph Morgan, James Hendrickson, Chas. French, John 
Wallace, Isaac Kay, Sam'l Burrows, John Collins, 
Thos. Clark, Hugh Creighton, Samuel Spicer, John 
Kay, Peter Covenover, Andrew Steelman, Amos 
Haines, Isaac Albertson, Wm. Hampton, Jonathon 



Morgan. 



1770 Indictments 



In 1770 several men including Zebulon Lock, An- 
drew Culling, Andrew Hendrickson, William Bright, John 
Munyon were indicted for a "shooting match." They 
pleaded guilty and were fined ten shillings each. 



22 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

At the same term (June 1770) Luke Rulong was 
indicted for killing a deer. 

At Sept. term, Savery Gosling was also indicted for 
killing deer. 

The Whipping Post 

As an example of punishment for offences against 
the law, the following sentence must have been a sure 
guarantee against a repetition of the offence: 

"June term 1774 

John Sparks, Foreman of Jury 
The King versus John Egan. Petty larceny 

The Court pronounced judgment that he receive 
39 lashes on the bare back on Saturday next the 25th 
of June between the hours of four and five in the after- 
noon, that he pay his fees and be suffered to depart the 
Province and that if ever he comes into the County of 
Gloucester he receive the same punishment and as often 
as he returns." 

Revolutionary Period, 1776- 1782 

The last entry in the June 1776 term of Court is 
a list of the persons granted tavern licenses, viz. : Wil- 
liam Higbee, Benjamin Weatherby, Desire Sparks, 
James Cooper, and Robt. Whitacre, together with their 
sureties. 

Oct. 1st, 1776, Sam'l Harrison Judge, Thos. Denny, 
George Van Lear and Isaac Kay, Esq. Justices 
opened Court "in form" 

by a coincidence the first entry is "The following persons 
licensed by the Court" 

John Rambo 

Simon Sparks 

Wm. Eldredge 

Hugh Creighton 

Thos. James 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



23 



In those days, as now, the Judges granted licenses 
for the sale of liquors. 

The last entry of the King versus a person was a 
case against Jonathan Albertson. 

The first appearance of a case of the State versus 
any one is in the March term, 1777, when Thomas Red- 
man and Mark Miller were taken into court and re- 
fused to take the oath of fidelity. They were sentenced 
to "pay the sum of five shillings a piece" and stand com- 
mitted till the fine fees are paid. 



Depteord Township Oeeicials 

The Deptford township officers for the year 1779 
were: 

Jeremiah Paul, 



Charles Fisher 
Savil Wilson 
Joseph Low 
James Wilkins 
David Wood 
James Gibson 
Arthur Hamilton 
Isaac Stephens, 
David Morgan, 
Jonathon Morgan 
James Wood 
Randle Morgan 
James Wilkins ' 
Joseph Low 
Benjamin Ward, 



} 



Clerk 
Freeholders 

Road 

Surveyors 

Road 
Overseers 

Assessor 
Collector 
Overseers of the 
Poor 

Commissioners of 
Appeal 

Constable 



Jonathan, Randle and David Morgan were brothers 
and sons of David Morgan, who died 1759. He was 
the progenitor of nearly all of the Morgans of South 
Jersey. 



24 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

A careful search of the court records of this time 
does not show very much pertaining to the excitement 
of the war, although several inhabitants of Gloucester 
County had their property confiscated because of their 
loyalty to the Crown. 

The Judges and Justices of the period were undis- 
puted patriots. 

In 1779, the Judges and Justices of the Court of 
Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions were 
Isaac Kay John Wiekins • 

John Sparks Bodo Otto 

Isaac Tomeinson Richard Somers 

Robert Brown Joseph Hugg 

John Somers Robert Morss 

Thomas Kennard 

In December, 1779, twenty-five of the prominent 

citizens were fined 30 pounds each for failure to serve 

as jurors. 

At the end of the Court Minutes of 1776-7-9 is the 

inscription "God Save the People." 

In 1782, the constables of the various townships 

comprising Gloucester County were as follows : 
Isaac Cox, Newton 

Barney Owens, Gloucester town 

John Bates, Gloucester twp. 

Joseph Rice, Woolwich 

Wieeiam Burnet, Galloway 

Jeremiah Risley j g artooi 
Joseph Ramp J 

John Barnes 1 n • , 

■L -^ >■ Greenwich 

Francis Robinson J 

William Buzby I Deptford 

Jacob Spencer J 

John Shivers \ Waterford 
Bent. Cozens 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 25 

Indictments 

In 1787 the following were indicted for a shooting" 
match and were discharged because "reasons were not 
sufficient:" Andrew Hendrickson, Isaac Locke, Ed- 
mund West, John D. Ford, Martin Cox, Enos Eldridge, 
Thos. Dunaway, Wm. Denny. 

1778 the following were indicted for Horse racing. 
Found not guilty: Wm. White, William Hugg, Samuel 
Cozens, John Pysant, Edmund West, Elijah Cozens. 

Fees 

In 1792: Sixteen licenses were granted and for 
the first time a license fee appears in the records rang- 
ing from 4 to 6£ for each tavern. 

In 1797 records change from English money to 
dollars and cents. 

Attorneys 

The attorneys who practiced in the Gloucester County 
Courts from 1740 to 1764 were Messrs. Price, Jones, 
Bustill, Robinson, Evans, Ross, Hartshorne, Mestayer, 
Rose; between 1764 and 1776, in addition to some of 
those mentioned above, Messrs. Smith, Bard, Kinsey, 
Allinson, Trenchard, Lawrence, Reed and Davenport 
also appeared as attorneys. 

During the Revolution, Attorneys, Messrs. Howell, 
Leake, Bloomfield and Read also pleaded before the 
Gloucester county courts. 

It was a common practice for suits to be submitted 
to three men for arbitration, whose report or any two 
of them would decide the controversy. 

During 1794 and subsequently there was a con- 
troversy over an alteration in the road from Haddon- 
field to Woodbury. 

In 1796 the Managers of the Woodbury Academy 
lottery were interested in a law suit. 



26 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



Old Families 

Among the well known families living in and about 
Gloucester County during the 18th century were the fol- 
lowing- : 



Borton 


Bodine 


Abbott 


Townsend 


Whitaker 


Cramer 


Edwards 


Lumrnis 


Willits 


French 


Carle 


Robinson 


Folwell 


Rogers 


Shourds 


Morris 


Newbold 


Somers 


Leeds 


Ogden 


Dubois 


Van Sant 


Garwood 


Davis 


Clement 


Peirson 


Harris 


Garrison 


Miller 


Craven 


Bilderback 


Padget 


Rumsey 


Sheppard 


VanMeter 


Walker 


Mattson 


Wainwright 


Webb 


Carter 


Bartlett 


Darrell 


Hancock 


Hall 


Bates 


Clark 


Jaquette 


Steward 


Richman 


Simkins 


Rose 


Trenchard 


Wade 


Wright 


Prickett 


Cattell 


Bowen 


Jessup 


Moffett 


Lippincott 


Kaighn 


Haines 


Biddle 


Ballinger 


Collins 


Steelman 


Woods 


Albertson 


Cooper 


yTomlinson 


Hedger 


Hinchman 


Burnet 


Budd 


Hendrickson 


Corson 


Reeves 


Coles 


Sparks 


Zanes 


Vanneman 


Burroughs 


Eastlack 


Helme 


Kirby 


Carney 


Cresse 


Endicott 


Stoneback 


Seeley 


Dunlap 


Ridgway 


Thomson 


Seaman 


Wescott 


Mayhew 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



2 7 



Parker 


Mott 


Peirce 


Ireland 


Mathis 


Roberson 


Headley 


Jones 


Tyler 


Gauntt 


Horner 


Sutton 


Gaskill 


Gifford 


Taylor 


Doughty 


Falkinburg 


Paul 


Craig 


Cramner 


Lord 


Cavilear 


Conkling 


Hopman 


Allen 


Stifle 


Gibson 


Chew 


Blackman 


Adams 


Morgan 


Davenport 


Dunn 


Dalbo 


Newkirk 


Holmes 


Ware 


Batten 


Whiteall 


Ward 


Nixon 


Spicer 


Williams 


Marshall 


Thackara 


Hand 


Randall 


Hugg 


Ladd 


Tatem 


Hillman 


Howell 


Mulford 


Clark 


Ellis 


Bateman 


Sinnickson 


Robbins 


Risley 


Yorke 


Pharo 


Sharp 
Loan Oeeice. 





Among the old records is a book known as the 
Ledger of the Gloucester County Loan Office. It begins 
in 1786 and ends 1799. One hundred and eighty-nine 
different men, well known in the community, borrowed 
amounts ranging from 25 to 100 pounds Dec. 5, 1786. 
and as a rule paid interest and sometimes instalments 
on the principal for a period of ten years. 

The Loan Commissioners met at the house of Wm. 
Hugg and spent two days examining the title deeds of 
the applicants. The loans desired were about double the 
amount to be loaned and the Commissioners decided to 
put the money out on a 50% proportion. 

The total amount loaned was about 8,000 pounds. 



28 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

Among the names are Sam'l Risley, Egg Harbor; 
John Badcock, Egg Harbor; Richard Collins, Joseph 
Sooy, Thomas Clark, Robert Morss, Daniel Leeds, 
Amariah Ballinger, Robert Zane, James Russell, John 
Lippincott, Henry Ridgway, Richard French, Jeremiah 
Adams, Hezekiah Arnold, Richard Steelman, James 
Rambo, Jonathan Williams, Nathan Weatherby, John 
Porch, Hudson Tomlin, James B. Cooper, Joseph Ellis 
and Franklin Davenport. 



Old Trinity Church* 

At Swedesboro, N. J. 

The history of the earliest settlements in Glouces- 
ter County is one of those things which has been forever 
lost. It naturally has to do with the coming of the 
Swedes, in 1634, and with the settlement on Tinicum 
Island which lies in the Delaware just off the western 
end of the county. With the fertile uplands of the 
county so close at hand it seems unreasonable to sup- 
pose that the Swedes would have failed to recognize the 
wonderful agricultural possibilities of the sandy loam 
which lay so near to the Governor's headquarters. The 
first actual knowledge of them, however, is concerned 
with the arrival of the good ship Kent with the commis- 
sioners, John Eldridge and Edmund Warner, to settle 
the dispute between Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick. 
In August, 1676, they arrived at New Castle, Delaware, 
later moving up the Delaware, and finally landing the 
passengers at the mouth of Raccoon Creek, where the 
Swedes had a settlement years before, only to be aban- 
doned as they moved inland to the permanent occupation 
of the land which is now Swedesboro and Repaupo. 
Among the passengers on board was William White, a 
cordwainer, who purchased the land where Swedesboro 
now stands. He bequeathed the same to his son, John 
White, who later sold it to John Hugg, Jr., of Glouces- 
ter River, sometime High Sheriff and later Chief Jus- 
tice of Gloucester County. By him the tract was sold 
to Trinity Church, which has been in possession of it 
since the first day of September, 1703. 

The history of the neighborhood naturally centers 
around the old church. The deed recites the fact that 

* By Rev. Edgar Campbell. 



30 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

the church was "late erected" and the original survey, 
which, with the original deed, is in the possession of the 
Church Corporation, shows the church in place "in the 
middle of the tract of twenty acres, facing the creek." 
There is no record of Indian occupancy, but when one 
studies the geology of the neighborhood and finds evi- 
dence that a large fresh water lake, lying directly north 
of the town, was in existence at the time the King's 
Highway was laid out in 1765, for this famous road 
just skirted the eastern bank, and that at the sandy head 
of this lake, with a wonderfully easy portage from the 
creek, are to be found many arrowheads and Indian 
utensils, it is easy to surmise that there must have been 
a large permanent settlement of the red men there. 
What more natural that they should select the slope 
at the head of tide water, where two creeks join, for a 
burying place, and that the Swedes when they laid their 
dead away should have come to the same place, and then 
later when they came to erect their church should have 
asked for this hallowed spot. At any rate the church was 
erected there and from that time, whether before 1700 
or afterwards, the history of the community centers for 
the greater part in the history of the church. 

The first church was of logs, but by the time of the 
Revolution, about 75 years later, this was fast going to 
ruin, yet around it must have clustered the same hal- 
lowed memories that we put around all rural churches. 
Here they came for services, to listen to the celebrated 
men sent from Sweden, among whom was Peter Kalm, 
who named our mountain laurel and in whose honor it 
still carries the Latin name, Kalmia. Here they brought 
children to be baptized; the lovers came to be married, 
and here they sadly laid away their dead. English and 
Swedes lived side by side, the Swedish gradually ming- 
ling with the English, until 1765, when the English be- 
came dominant and they wrote their records in that lan- 
guage. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 31 

Church yards everywhere tell us much of history. 
In the old yard of Trinity Church there are very few 
old stones. One is forcibly reminded of the words of 
Irving, to be found in Rip Van Winkle. On his re- 
turn from the mountain. Rip came to the village tavern 
and asked, "Where's Nicholas Vedder?" "There was 
silence for a little while, when an old man replied in a 
thin, piping voice, 'Nicholas Vedder? Why he is dead 
and gone these eighteen years. There was a wooden 
tombstone in the churchyard that used to tell about him, 
but that's rotten and gone too.' " It must have been so 
here. Occasionally one finds a stone that he feels is 
very old, but for the most part the markers are gone. 
There is a stone to the memory of Jonas Jones, who 
died 1 72 1 ; one for Eli Vanneman, 1722. and then there 
are others until we come to Joseph Applin, 1740. a beau- 
tifully carved stone, similar to those found in English 
churchyards of that period, and which was most likely 
brought from England. 

What heroes of the Colonial wars lie buried may 
not be known. Of the Revolution few names can be of 
a certainty recognized. Colonel Robert Brown, of 
course, for he was the storekeeper, money lender, and 
factotum of the community. Then there was Colonel 
Bodo Otto, who was also a physician, whose father was 
Washington's surgeon general at Valley Forge. Of 
him there is an interesting paper in the vaults of the 
church, namely a receipt for medical attendance on Wil- 
liam Matson, which was signed April 19, 1775, the very 
day the battle of Lexington was fought. Captain John 
Daniels and Colonel Heston are also buried here, and 
Hester, wife of Captain Samuel Williams. Of privates 
there is no record whatsoever. They must have num- 
bered twenty to one, compared to the officers, so that we 
very likely have fifty of them, most of whom are in un- 
marked graves. 



32 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Interesting is the story told of the time when Corn- 
wall is marched by, and who knows but the Quaker poet 
may have visited the community and there found the 
germ of the poem of Barbara Frietsche. The old folks 
told of how in marching by the general saw a clergy- 
man officiating at a funeral, who from his vestments re- 
sembled an English clergyman. He gave orders that 
the Church was not to be molested and it was left in 
peace. A seeming fairy tale! But we have the grave 
of Hester, wife of Captain Samuel Williams, who died 
Oct. 1 6, 1777, just three days before Cornwallis marched 
by, and there may be truth rather than fiction in the 
story. 

The British did not always leave the community in 
peace. A record in the minute book of the Vestry 
under the date of 1778 is as follows: 

"The usual vestry meeting on the 3d day of Eas- 
ter could not be observed, because of the general 
distraction produced by the war. Militia and Con- 
tinental troops on one side, and refugees with 
British on the other were frequently skirmishing, 
and both almost equally distressing the country. 
Plundering, marauding, imprisoning, and burning 
houses, with other horrid excesses, were frequent 
from the beginning of spring til July, when the 
British army evacuated Philadelphia. In the morn- 
ing of Easter-Sunday, a man who had traded with 
the British was tied to a pine near the burying 
ground, and cruelly whipped. He died after a 
short time. On the 4th day of April, some hundred 
of English Marines and refugees came to Swedes- 
borough early in the morning to surprise the mili- 
tia. Being disappointed they burnt the Schoolhouse, 
alleging for a reason that some loyal subjects had 
been imprisoned therein some weeks before" 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 33 

The present church was built in 1784, and there is 
preserved in the vestry room the original subscription 
book with the names of all the contributors to the fund 
for its erection, and a reading of the names is like a cen- 
sus of the community. The list of expenditures is also 
given and shows that the total cost of the church was 
£1310 and 8 shillings. The church as it stands to-day 
is practically unchanged. There have been some altera- 
tions in the interior, but the exterior is exactly as it was 
when the Swedes and English left it as completed. 

It is interesting to know that Mr. Isaac Vanneman, 
grandson of the master mason who built the church, 
Isaac Van Neaman (Vanneman), is still living in 
Swedesboro. 



The Battle of Red Bank* 

The attack on, and defence of Fort Mercer, at Red 
Bank, on the Delaware River, overlooking League 
Island and Fort Mifflin on the Pennsylvania side, was 
one of the most glorious battles in the Revolutionary 
War. When the Battle of Red Bank is mentioned, many 
people confuse it with the Red Bank in Monmouth 
County; but historic Red Bank was once the Capital of 
Gloucester County, the Courts being held alternately at 
Gloucester and Red Bank. 

While long ago it ceased to be a judicial town, the 
brave deeds of Colonel Greene and his soldiers, and 
Commodore Hazlewood and his sailors, in the defence 
of Fort Mercer, will rouse enthusiasm and patriotism 
for all time. 

After the Battle of the Brandy wine, September n, 
1777, and the occupation of Philadelphia by the British 
army under General Howe, in order to supply his army 
it became imperative for General Howe to open the 
Delaware River for navigation to Philadelphia. To ac- 
complish this it was necessary to capture or destroy the 
fortifications at Billingsport, Fort Mifflin on Mud 
Island, Fort Mercer, on the Jersey shore near Red Bank, 
and pass through, or remove the chevaux-de-frise at 
Billingsport, and off Red Bank. 

The defence of Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, was 
given to two regiments of Varnum's Rhode Island Bri- 
gade, under the command of Col's Christopher Greene 
and Israel Angell, who were instructed to hold the fort 
to the last extremity as the key to the Delaware, and 
the pivot on which the success of the campaign depend- 
ed. The French engineer, Manduit du Plessis, accom- 
panied Greene. The Lieutenant Colonels were Shaw and 
* By Wallace McGeorge, M. D. 



36 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

Olney; the Majors were Thayer and Ward, and the 
Surgeon, Dr. Peter Turner. 

Fort Mercer, which had been erected here to support 
the left of the upper chevaux-de-frise, sunk in 1776, to 
prevent the ascension of the British fleet, was originally 
designed for a garrison of twelve or fifteen hundred men. 
When Greene took possession of the works, having but 
three hundred men, he adopted the suggestion of M. 
de Manduit, an experienced French engineer, and threw 
out a large part of the fortification on the north, reduc- 
ing it to a pentagonal redoubt of convenient size. A 
rampart of earth raised to the height of the cordon, a 
fosse and an abattis in front of the fosse constituted the 
whole strength of the post. The battery numbered four- 
teen pieces of artillery of small calibre. 

The capture of Fort Mercer was assigned by General 
Howe, to Count Carl Emil Kurt von Donop, one of the 
most distinguished of the Hessian officers, who had taken 
an active part with his regiment in the battle of German- 
town, and who was eager for an opportunity to display 
his ability as a leader. Howe regarded him as an in- 
telligent and bold soldier, and assigned him the three 
Grenadier Battalions of Von Minnigerode, Von Lin- 
singen and Von Lengererke, Mirbach's Regiment (which 
had been ordered up from Wilmington), consisting of 
four light companies of chasseurs, including Wangen- 
heim's, a dozen cavalrymen, some artillery and two 
English howitzers." 

Donop recognized the heavy task entrusted to him, 
and asked in vain for more artillery, but Howe said that 
if Donop could not take the fort, the British would. 
Donop was angry at this reply and sent back word that 
the Germans had courage to do anything, and to his as- 
sociates he said, "Either that will be Fort Donop or I 
shall be dead." 

On Tuesday, October 21, 1777, Count Donop with 
his troops started for Red Bank. To avoid molestation 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 37 

by the Yankee vessels in the river, who occupied the 
Delaware from Kaighn's Point southward to Red Bank, 
it was necessary to cross the Delaware at Cooper's 
Point, and take the road leading from that place to Had- 
donfield. At that time there were two ferries from 
Philadelphia to Cooper's Ferries, as Camden was then 
called, one from Market Street to Cooper Street, and 
the other from Vine Street, Philadelphia, to Main Street, 
Camden. As the river shore between the two ferries 
was held by English, Scotch and Hessian regiments, it 
was safe for the British hirelings to be ferried over the 
river at this point. 

When the troops, artillery, horses and baggage had 
been ferried over they marched through Main and 
Cooper Streets, Camden, to Pine Street, (now called 
North Sixth Street), and from thence over the road 
leading to Haddonfield. At that time this road was in 
some places not much better than a bridle path, and was 
not made a turnpike till 1792. They arrived at Haddon- 
field Tuesday evening and the soldiers bivouacked in 
the fields beyond the village near Hopkins' mill pond. 
Count Donop selected John Gill's house for his head- 
quarters, and as those families that entertained an of- 
ficer were secure against pillage by the Hessians, many 
of the inhabitants quickly opened their doors to receive 
the Hessian officers. Judge Clement says : "In John 
Gill's house Donop had his headquarters, and although 
the owner was an elder among Friends, yet the urbanity 
and politeness of the German soldier so won upon him, 
that he was kindly remembered ever after." 

Early Wednesday morning, October 22, preparation 
was made to advance on Fort Mercer by way of Mount 
Ephraim to the Buck (now Westville) when their scouts 
brought them word that the bridge over Timber Creek 
at that point was torn up. This necessitated a change 
in the route, and securing guides they took the road 
from Haddonfield to Clement's Bridge, passing through 



38 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

the villages now called Barrington and Runnymede. Be- 
fore reaching the latter place, they crossed Beaver 
Brook, and then had strenuous work dragging their 
cannon up the hill, which is one hundred feet high at 
this point. (To make myself thoroughly familiar with 
the route the Hessians took, Mrs. McGeorge and I drove 
over the entire route a few years ago, and we were par- 
ticularly interested in the roads they marched after leav- 
ing Haddonfield till they reached Red Bank.) 

Crossing Timber Creek at Clement's Bridge, they 
proceeded along the road through the hamlet called Cat- 
teltown (because so many Cattells lived there), later 
known as Basket Town, and now called Wescottville ; 
then skirting the edge of the woods, passing by the Cat- 
tell Burying Ground, over "Lavender Hill," passing J. 
Wood Hannold's and the Johnson farms, across the 
Westville and Glassboro Road, past the Knight, Lad- 
ner and McGeorge farms, through Ladd's woods and 
out through Mann Town, now Park Avenue, across 
the King's Highway, now the Woodbury and Glouces- 
ter Turnpike, and from thence out what is now called 
Hessian avenue, across the Crown Point Road and the 
highway from Woodbury to Red Bank, halting on the 
edge of the woods, near the fort, arriving there shortly 
before noon. 

Colonel Donop rode forward and reconnoitered. He 
found that he could approach the fort through a thick 
woods, on three sides, without hindrance. The fort was 
a five-sided earthwork, with a ditch and abattis. It had 
at first been constructed on too large a scale, but Mon- 
sieur du Plessis de Manduit had reduced the size of the 
works. On three sides of the fort the woods afforded 
shelter to the besieging party to within a distance of 
four hundred yards. On the north side was the Dela- 
ware River. 

Mickle, in his Reminiscences of Old Gloucester, 
says : "On the morning of the twenty-second, the Hes- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 39 

sians arrived at the edge of the forest north of the fort, 
almost within cannon shot thereof. Halting them to 
rest from the march, Donop sent an officer with a drum- 
mer to command Greene to surrender. 'King George,' 
said the officer, 'directs his rebellious subjects to lay 
down their arms and promised no quarter if a battle is 
risked.' At which Col. Greene, in command of the 
fort, deputized a man to mount the parapet and return 
the laconic reply: 'We'll see King George damned 
first — we want no quarter!' The interview here ter- 
minated and the officer returned to the Hessian camp." 

Colonel Greene, after making final dispositions of 
his men, mounted the ramparts of the fort and inspected 
the enemy through his field glass. "Fire low, men," he 
said, "They have a broad belt just above the hips. Aim 
at that." 

On receiving Colonel Greene's answer, Count 
Donop hastily threw up intrenchments within half can- 
non shot of the fort, and ordered his men to prepare 
fascines, (bundles of rods, securely tied together, like 
bundles of lath, only larger, or like twelve or fifteen 
bean poles in one bundle). These were to be used by his 
troops in getting over the abattis and in crossing moats 
or ditches. In front of every battalion stood an officer 
commanding sappers, and one hundred men with these 
fascines which he had made that afternoon in the woods. 

The journal of the Grenadier Battalion Von Min- 
nigerode says that Donop sent to summon the fort to sur- 
render twice, once on first arriving, and once just before 
the attack. 

Lowell's account of the engagement is as follows : 
"Colonel von Donop drew up his little army. His right 
flank rested on the river, near which he had placed his 
eight three pounders and two howitzers. These were 
supported by a battalion of grenadiers and by chasseurs, 
who were to defend the flank and rear against troops 
disembarking from the shipping in the Delaware. The 



40 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Hessian line extended the larger part of the way round 
the fort on the land side, the attack being- made simulta- 
neously from north and south. In front of every bat- 
talion stood an officer commanding sappers, and one 
hundred men with fascines. 

"About four o'clock all was ready. Donop then 
spoke a few words to his officers, calling on them to be- 
have with valor. They all dismounted and drew their 
swords, took their places in front of their battalions, 
and the attack began. The Hessians charged at double 
quick, passed the old disused lines with a cheer, carried 
the abbatis, but found themselves embarassed by pitfalls 
and by the ditch, which they had not enough fascines 
to fill. Three American galleys lying in the river kept up 
a ceaseless fire on the Hessian right flank. Some of the 
Hessians climbed the ramparts of the main fort. They 
were presently beaten back ; Donop was struck by a mus- 
ket ball in the hip, and fell mortally wounded. Twenty- 
two officers were killed or hurt, including the com- 
manders of all the battalions. The Hessians turned and 
fled, leaving many of their wounded on the field." 

The Hessians had fled, night had fallen and a part 
of the garrison came out of the fort to repair the abat- 
tis and care for the wounded. Several Hessian grena- 
diers were found crouching close under the parapet, 
where the balls would go over their heads. The fellows 
could not fight without support and feared to run away. 
They were taken into the fort. 

Von Eelking gives the following account of the bat- 
tle: 

"Donop placed the eight pound guns and the two 
mortars on the right and in support of Minnigerode's 
battalion and the Light Infantry, Von Mirbach's regi- 
ment in the center, Von Linsingen's battalion on the 
left, Von Lengerke's battalion, and some Yagers on the 
Delaware to guard against a landing and to protect his 
rear. Before each battalion there were sappers and a 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 41 

hundred men carrying hastily gathered fascines, led by 
a captain. 

"Donop. at 4 p. m., sent a summons to surrender 
with a threat of no quarter if it was refused, and re- 
ceived a reply that the fort would be held to the last 
man. As the report was that very few men were seen 
in the fort, Donop decided to attack at once, and made 
a stirring address, to which the men replied: 'We'll 
change the name from Fort Red Bank to Fort Donop,' 
and putting himself with his officers, sword in hand, at 
the head. 

"They charged gallantly, but soon found their road 
broken by deep ditches, and could move only singly ; 
they were met with a sharp fire in front and flank from 
a covered battery and from two vessels in the river. Still 
the troops pressed on; Von Minnigerode had taken the 
outlying redoubt by storm ; the Americans at first gave 
way, but soon stood fast, and before their fire Donop 
and Minnigerode and many other officers fell, casting 
dismay on their men. 

"Colonel V. Linsingen succeeded to the command 
and did all he could to restore order, but the Hessians 
fell back in disorder. Dead and wounded were aban- 
doned, and Von Linsingen brought the little remnant 
off under cover of the night, and on the next afternoon 
reached Philadelphia. 

"The fault lay with Howe, who had refused Donop's 
request for more artillery, had not supplied the necessary 
utensils for a siege — not even sending storming ladders 
or any means of scaling the walls — had taken no means 
to learn the nature of the position, and had as usual 
shown too little respect for the enemy." 

Mickle, from the MSS. notes of a Septuagenarian, 
gives the following interesting account of the Battle of 
Red Bank : 

"At four o'clock in the afternoon Donop opened a 
heavy cannonade from a battery which he had erected to 
3 



42 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

the north-eastward; and at the same time the British 
ships from below the chevaux-de-frize began to thunder 
upon the little fort. Most of the balls from the latter 
fell too low, and entered the bluff beneath the works. 
After cannonading for a short time, the Hessians ad- 
vanced to the first entrenchment. Finding this aban- 
doned, they shouted Victoria! — waved their hats, and 
rushed into the deserted area before the redoubt; the lit- 
tle drummer, before mentioned, heading the onslaught 
with a lively march. When the first of the assailants 
had come up to the very abattis and were endeavoring to 
cut away the branches, the Americans opened a terrible 
fire of musketry in front and flank. Death rode in every 
volley. So near were the Hessians to the caponiere, or 
looped trench which flanked the enemy when they set 
upon the main fort, that the wads were blown entirely 
through their bodies. The officers leading the attack 
fought bravely. Again and again they rallied their men 
and brought them to the charge. They were mowed 
down like grass, and fell in heaps among the boughs of 
the abattis and into the fosse. In the thickest of the 
fight Donop was easily distinguished by the marks of his 
order and his handsome figure; but even his example 
availed nothing. His men, repulsed from the redoubt in 
front, made an attack upon the escarpment on the west, 
but the fire from the American galleys drove them back 
here also with great loss, and at last they flew in much 
disorder to the woods, leaving among many other slain 
the saucy drummer and his officer. 

"Another column made a simultaneous attack upon 
the south, and in the technical language of a soldier, 
'passed the abattis, traversed the fosse and mounted the 
barm ;' but they were repulsed at the fraises, and all re- 
treated save twenty, who were standing on the barm 
against the shelvings of the parapet, under and out of 
the way of the guns, whence they were afraid to move. 
These were captured by M. de Manduit, who had sallied 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 43 

from the fort to repair some palisades. This brave 
Frenchman, making another sortie in a few minutes af- 
terwards to repair the southern abbatis, heard a voice from 
among the heaps of the dead and dying exclaim in Eng- 
lish, 'Whoever you are, draw me hence.' This was 
Count Donop. M. de Manduit caused him to be carried 
into the fort. His hip was broken, but the wound was 
not at first considered as mortal. The victorious Ameri- 
cans, remembering the insolent message which their cap- 
tive had sent them a few hours before, could not withhold 
marks of exultation. 

" 'Well — is it determined,' they asked aloud, 'to 
give no quarter?' 

" 'I am in your hands,' replied Donop; 'you may 
avenge yourselves.' M. de Manduit enjoining the men 
in broken English to be generous towards their bleeding 
and humble prisoner, the latter said to him, 'you appear 
to be a foreigner, sir; who are you?' 

" 'A French officer,' answered Manduit. 

" 'Je suis content,' (I am content) exclaimed the 
Count in French, 'je meurs entre les mains de l'honneur 
meme.' (I die in the hands of honour itself.) 

"Donop was taken first to the Whitall house, just be- 
low the fort, but was afterwards removed to the resi- 
dence of the Lowes, south of Woodbury Creek. He died 
three days after the battle, saying to M. de Manduit in 
his last moments, 'it is finishing a noble career early; 
but I die the victim of my ambition and of the avarice 
of my sovereign.' To Col. Clymer he made the remark- 
able remark: 'See here, Colonel, see in me the vanity of 
all human pride ! I have shone in all the courts of Europe, 
and now I am dying here on the banks of the Delaware 
in the house of an obscure Quaker.' 

"Colonel Donop had been an aide-de-camp of the 
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, his sovereign, with whom he 
was a favorite. He was sent to America in 1776, in com- 
mand of two companies of Field Yagers. According to 



44 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

the records, detachments of the Yagers Corps were con- 
cerned in every engagement in which the Hessians took 
part. In the attack on the Fort at Red Bank, Donop 
commanded in person the centre division, which was 
composed of Mirbach's Regiment, and at the head of his 
men attacked Fort Mercer on the south side, and crossed 
the abattis, before he was shot down. When the Hes- 
sians retreated, the Yagers wanted to carry their wound- 
ed commander with them, but according to the journal 
of the Yagers' Corps, Donop refused to be carried off the 
field. After the battle was over, he was carried, wound- 
ed and helpless, into' the fort he had so set his heart on 
capturing. 'He died October 29th, (one week after the 
attack) in his thirty-seventh year, and was buried with 
military honors. His death was greatly mourned, both 
in the army and at home.' Other writers say Donop 
died three days after the battle." 

Lieut. Colonel Minnigerode, who commanded the 
right flank, and whose troops were the first to enter the 
abandoned fortifications, was wounded and not killed, 
as narrated by some writers. According to the Hes- 
sian records, he was wounded at Red Bank, and Gaines' 
New York Gazette of October 25, 1779, says he died at 
New York October 16, 1779, two years after the battle 
of Red Bank. Captain Wachs and Captain Stendorff, of 
his battalion, were also wounded at Red Bank. 

Lieut. Colonel Schieck was killed, and Lieut. Ruffer, 
of Mirbach's Regiment, was wounded where Colonel 
Donop fell. 

Lieut. Colonel Linsingen, who commanded the left 
flank, and who assumed command when Donop and Min- 
nigerode were wounded, lost Lieut. DuBuy, of his bat- 
talion, killed, and Captains Von Stamfort, Von Eschwege 
and Lieutenants Prodemann and Von Eschen, wounded. 

The following officers belonging to Donop's troops 
were also killed : Captains Von Brogatzy and Wagner, 
Lieutenants Riemann, Von Wurmb, Hille, Von Often- 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 45 

bach and Heymel. The Hessians authorities admit their 
loss in killed, wounded and missing- to be six hundred 
and fifty. 

The respected friend to whose MSS. notes we have 
before acknowledged our indebtedness, tells us that of 
the men under Col. Greene in this action many were 
blacks and mulattoes. He was in the fort on the morn- 
ing of the twenty-third of October, while the garrison 
were burying the slain, and cannot be mistaken as to the 
point. His account of the loss agrees with that con- 
tained in Ward's letter to Washington, to wit : upon 
the American side, from Greene's regiment, two ser- 
geants, one fifer and four privates killed, one sergeant 
and two privates wounded, and one captain who was 
reconnoitering, taken prisoner; from Angell's regiment, 
one captain, three sergeants, three rank and file killed, 
and one ensign, one sergeant and fifteen privates wound- 
ed; and from Capt. Duplessis's company, two privates 
wounded. Several of the Americans were killed by the 
bursting of one of their cannon, the fragments of which 
are yet in the neighborhood. 

The Hessians slain were buried in front of the 
fosse, south of the fort. The wounded officers were car- 
ried to Philadelphia by Manduit, and exchanged. Count 
Donop was interred near the spot where he fell, and 
a stone placed over him with the inscription : "Here 
lies buried Count Donop." The epitaph has ceased to be 
true — all that was left of the poor Hessian having been 
dug up and scattered about as relics. 

In conclusion it may not be uninteresting to record 
that the journal of the Grenadier Battalion Von Min- 
nigerode asserts that Donop had received orders not to 
attack the fort until the 23rd, in order to give the 
English frigates an opportunity to engage the American 
galleys. But as the English frigates actually fell back on 
the 23rd, after the Augusta had blown up and the Mer- 



46 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

lin had been set on fire, it could have made no differ- 
ence in the result. 

The English account of the attack on Fort Mer- 
cer, as sent home by Admiral Howe and published in 
the London Chronicle of December 2, 1777, is as fol- 
lows: 

"The attack of the redoubt (Fort Mercer) being 
observed to take place the evening of the 22nd, just be- 
fore the close of day, Captain Reynolds (on the Augusta) 
immediately slipped (anchor) and advanced with the 
squadron (to which the Merlin had been joined) as fast 
as he was able with the flood to second the attempt of 
the troops which were seen to be very warmly engag- 
ed, but the change in the natural course of the river, 
caused by the obstructions, appearing to have altered 
the channel, the Augusta and Merlin unfortunately 
grounded some distance below the second line of chev- 
aux-de-frize, and the fresh northwardly wind, which 
then prevailed, greatly checking the rising of the tide, 
they could not be got afloat on the subsequent flood. 

"The diversion was endeavored to be continued by 
the frigates, at which the fire of the enemy's gallies was 
chiefly pointed for some time. But as the night ad- 
vanced, the Hessian detachment having been repulsed, 
the firing ceased." 

In sailing up the river, "the ship Augusta, together 
with the Merlin, grounded during the operation on the 
River Delaware, on the 22d October, 1777." 

Colonel Bradford's account of the battle at Red 
Bank is of interest. This was sent to His Excellency 
William Bradford, President of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, at Lancaster, and published in Pennsylvania Ar- 
chives, 1st series, vol. 5, page 787: 

"Count Donop and his force were before the fort 
in the afternoon of the 22nd of October, and at a quar- 
ter before five o'clock proceeded to attack it with great 
spirit. Having carried the outworks against the garri- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 47 

son, his troops had now to storm the interior intrench- 
ments. To reach them, as we have said in describing 
the fort, the attacking- force had to place itself where 
it would be exposed to the fire of our vessels. The op- 
portunity was not missed by Commodore Hazlewood. 
Coming as near as possible to the fort, he sent forth a 
universal shower of balls and musket shot on the at- 
tacking party. The rest of the history is known to every 
one. The assailants retired, but only to find in their 
slower and disordered retreat, a still more deadly fire 
from the fleet." 

In connection with this description of the battle 
much interest is centered in Ann Whitall, the heroine of 
Red Bank. I will quote what Mrs. McGeorge wrote 
about this heroine and her conduct during and after the 
battle of Red Bank: 

"When Colonel Greene moved out of the Whitall 
house into the fort, on October 21, Ann Whitall went 
over with her son Job; she at once decided to stay and 
put things to rights. Job insisted that she ought at least 
go to the nearest neighbors for safety. But she was 
obdurate and allowed that if the Lord called her, He 
would find her at home; and with beautiful faith re- 
minded her son that 'The Lord is strong and mighty 
and He will protect me.' 

"On that fateful Wednesday, October 22, 1777, 
after setting her house in as good order as possible, and 
that she might prepare herself for whatever God or- 
dained, Ann Cooper Whitall took her spinning wheel to 
the southeast room. As that wheel whirled round, the 
guns of the British frigates Augusta and Merlin boom- 
ed a gamut of threats — those of the nearby fort roared 
defiant answers and the musketry of besiegers and be- 
sieged, mingled with the screams of the wounded, kept 
up an incessantly horrible racket. It was terrible ! She 
resisted the impulse to even look northward, fortifying 



48 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

herself with the thought that by abstaining she was 
bearing testimony to Friends' abhorrence of war. 

"Then one of the balls went wide of its aim and en- 
tered the north gable just below I. A. W., and as if 
seeking the old lady it crossed the northeast room, then 
the hall, and into the southeast room in which Ann 
Whitall sat spinning, where it fell inert. What if more 
should follow? She remembered that Providence favors 
those who aid themselves, so she carried her wheel out 
into the hall ! — Oh-h ! what an ugly hole that ball made ! 
— down the open stairway, speedily reaching the cellar 
door and made quick descent to the cool depth of the 
southeast corner. Here she continued to spin until the 
tumult ceased and the battle was over. 

"Ann was on hand with bandages that evening 
when the injured were brought in; the house was filled, 
even the attic was crowded. That night she was an angel 
of mercy to the wounded and dying, but when some of 
them fretted because of the noise, she reminded them 
that they 'must not complain, who had brought it on 
themselves.' She administered to their needs, this be- 
ing clearly within the line of duty — 'to care for the ill 
and dying and direct their minds to a solemn considera- 
tion of the approaching awful period of life.' " 

Colonel Greene then took possession of the house — 
the dead were interred on the banks south of the stockade 
and Ann Whitall returned to her daughter's, Sarah Mat- 
lock. 

After the evacuation of the fort, on November 20, 
1777, the British came and laid waste to everything but 
the Whitall house. Although it was not deemed safe 
for the family to return to their home on the bluff until 
Monday, April 20, 1778, the record in James Whitall's 
diary states "after an absence and precarious living for 
upward of six months." 

Half an hour after sunset — the sun set at eleven 
minutes after five o'clock that day — Lieutenant Colonel 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 49 

Linsingen, who by the wounding of Colonel Donop and 
Lieutenant Colonel Minnigerode, became the senior of- 
ficer, gathered his demoralized force, and beat a hasty 
retreat along the Hessian Run Road, as it is called to 
this day. 

When he arrived at the Junction of the King's 
Highway and Park Avenue, in North Woodbury, finding 
himself hampered with the wounded, he sent the more 
seriously wounded of them into Woodbury, where they 
took possession of the Friends' Meeting House on the 
crest of the hill and also Deptford School House, on 
Delaware Street, now the Public Library building. The 
wounded soldiers who died in Woodbury were interred 
less than a hundred yards away in the Strangers' Burying 
Grounds, nearly opposite Wood Street. Some of the 
wounded who recovered did not return to their battal- 
ions, but secured work with the farmers in the country. 

Linsingen's retreating force became confused in the 
darkness when they reached the Clement's Bridge Road, 
and some of them continued on across that road to Wes- 
cottville till they reached the Almonesson Road and 
marched through Almonesson and Mechanicsville, finally 
stopping at Blackwoodtown. Others took the right hand 
road after crossing Timber Creek at Clement's Bridge, 
and brought up at Chew's Landing, but the greater num- 
ber kept to the left after crossing the creek and finally 
got back to Haddonfield, which they had so proudly left 
in the morning. The next day, October 23rd, they made 
their way back to Philadelphia, footsore and weary, 
thankful to escape from New Jersey. 

Mickle says that the Hessians who retreated by way 
of Chew's Landing were met by a company of farmer 
boys near the Landing and held at bay for some time. 
This detachment had with them a brass cannon which 
they are supposed to have thrown into Timber Creek, at 
Clement's Bridge. 



50 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

On October 22, 1829, the old monument at Red 
Bank was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, on the 
fifty-second anniversary of the battle. This was of grey 
marble. It was not as large or as high as when first 
erected and has been abused by vandals and others. The 
Gloucester County Historical Society has done what it 
could to preserve it from further desecration. 

The new monument was erected by the State of 
New Jersey and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, 
June 21, 1906, the Governors of Rhode Island, Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey taking part in the presentation of 
the monument. 

This land has been conveyed in trust by Congress 
to the Board of Freeholders as a public park, to be for- 
ever owned and used by the people of our country and to 
instill, if possible, a greater love of country among our 
citizens. 



A Gloucester County Merchant* 

No history of Gloucester County would be complete 
without mention of Samuel Mickle, who kept a large 
general store in Woodbury. His invoice book from the 
year 1779 to 1791 contains copies of two hundred and 
seventy-one invoices aggregating a large sum of money. 

To give some idea of the wholesale prices in Con- 
tinental currency during the Revolutionary War (1779) 

I copy the following : 

£ S D 

1 Keg Bohea Tea 28^ lbs. 304 15 o 
1 Bbl. Brandy 440 o o 

6 lb. Coffee 20 5 o 

6 lb. Pepper 81 o o 

36 lbs. Tobacco 27 7 6 

100 lbs. Sugar 206 5 o 

65 gal. Molasses (1 Tierce) 845 ° ° 

1 Bushel Salt (fine) 36 o o 

Mickle dealt in almost everything, crockery, but- 
tons, chemicals, stationery, cutlery, hardware, groceries, 
brushes, rum, drygoods, spices, almanacs, Bibles, soaps, 
Indian basketry, gun flints, candles, shot, needles and 
hundreds of other things. 

Among the New Jersey merchants from whom he 
purchased goods were Richard Wescoat, at the Forks of 
the Little Egg Harbour, 

George Payne, Gloucester 
Abraham Hileyard, at Home 
Josh. Hopper, at Home 
Wm. Beee, Haddonfield 
Wm. Brown, at Home 
Same. Swift, at Home 
Hannah Kaighn, at Home 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



52 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Jas. Nugent, at Home 
Benj. Whitall, at Home 
Jno. Tatum, 

Abraham Harper, at Home 
Geo. Budd, Mt. Holly 
Geo. Bullock, Woodbury 
Elisha Clark, Woodbury 
Deborah Davenport, Woodbury 
Isaac Collins, Trenton 
Solomon Stanger, Woodbury 
Hannah Mictaugh, Indian 
Neal & Lawrence, Burlington 
Francis Stinger, at Home 
EdgepELEEk Indians, at Home 
His dealings with Philadelphia merchants and manu- 
facturers were very extensive, and because of the fact 
that there is no directory of Philadelphia merchants as 
far back as 1779 and many of our members now are 
Philadelphia merchants and manufacturers, I thought it 
might be of great advantage to place on a permanent rec- 
ord the names of those who certainly must have supplied 
the residents of Old Gloucester with many of the neces- 
sities, as well as the frivolities of the 18th century. 

The Philadelphia merchants and manufacturers 
were: 
Leonard Dorsey Andrew Hook 

Samuel Taylor Mahlon Hutchinson 

Fisher & Roberts Amos Wickersham 

John Campbell Charles French 

Job Butcher Field & Thompson 

George Guest Townsend White 

Barnabas McShane Wister & Aston 

Jno. Marshall & Co. W. & D. Sellers 

Hartshorne & Large Richard Somers 
Fithian Stratton Geo. Hughes & Co. 

Geo. Wilson Robt. Parish 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



53 



John Henderson & Co. 
White & Josiah 

Matlack 
John Scott 
Archibald Gardner 
Jacob Baker 
Nathan Cook 
Wright & Burkhart 
Samuel Hopkins 
John Ralston 
Bent. Poultney 
Hall & Sellers 
Thomas & Drinker 
Geo. Roberts 
Field & Thomson 
John Wilcocks 
Fries & Chancellor 
Wm. Folwell 



Thos. Rogers 
John Miller 
Everard Bolton 
Townsend SpEakman 
Paul Beck, Jr. 
Ellis Yarnell 
Christopher Marshall 
Dr. Jno. Morris 
Shaw & Rudolph 
Hewes & Anthony 
Jno. & Wm. Mont- 
gomery 
Sam'l Wetherill 
Wm. Caldwell & Co. 
Henry Drinker 
Benedict Dorsey 
and many others. 



The Township Book of Great Egg Harbor, 
Gloucester County, Now Atlantic County* 

Beginning probably in March, 1777, and extending to 
18 1 7, is still in existence and in possession of Miss Sarah 
A. Risley, in whose family it has been for a hundred 
years or more. The date is missing from the first page 
which is copied herewith, but the second and third pages 
bear the year date of 1777. The first page unquestionably 
refers to men in the Revolution. 

"This Day the Town Committee met at the house 
of James Somers, Esq., in order to consult on some 
means to support the wives and families of William 
Finch or Harris (?) and Younges Mapes who are gone 
into the service of this State or of the United States. 
Whereas the Committee hath agreed that they shall be 
supported and supplied one peck of Rie or corne a week. 
Each of them. Also it ordered that Thomas Champen 
supply them with one shillings worth of meats or mo- 
lasses a piece a week and that James Somers supply 
them with the Rie or corne. 

"So the Justices and assessors and freeholders Doe 
order thirty pounds to be rased for the needs of the 
poor. 

James Somers 
John Somers, Samuee Risley 

Chairman. John Somers 

Frederick Steeeman 
Thomas Champan." 

March n, 1777, at a Town meeting held at Great 
Egg Harbor, County of Gloucester, the "following of- 
ficers are chosen :" 

t* , , , Frederick Steelman 

.Freeholders T _ 

John Somers, Juner. 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 



56 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



Surveyors of 
Roads 

Assessor 

Collector 

Overseers of 
the Poor 

Overseers of 
the Roads 



Inspectors 

Constables 
Town Clerk 



Joseph Mapes 
Recompense Scuee 

Elias Smith 

Joseph Doee 

Alexander Fish 
Thomas Champan 

John Scuee 
Joseph Scuel 
James Steeeman 

John Somers, Sr. 
James Somers 
Sam'l Riseey 

John Addams 
Daniee Steeeman 

Samuee Riseey 



In 1778 John Somers and Noah Smith were free- 
holders; Joseph Mapes, Recompense Scull, surveyors; 
Elias Smith, assessor; John Scull, Joseph Scull, James 
Steelman, overseers of roads; Thomas Chamberlin, col- 
lector. 

John Conenover and Thomas Thompson, overseers 
of the poor; John Somers, Jr., John Somers, Sr., Saml. 
Risley, commissioners of appeal. 

No record of new township officers appears until the 
year 1783, when a full list is again recorded. It is evi- 
dent that during- the Revolution township business lagged 
here, as elsewhere. 

Jan'y 8, 1779, 150 pounds was to be raised for the 
use of the overseers of the poor of the township. 

From 1775 to 1785 are records of the following 
named children who were placed as apprentices : 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



Apprentices 
Enoch Insell 
Isaac Scule 
Joshua Lake 
Hannah Adams 
Richard Maps 
Enoch Shaw 
Samuee Hex 
Benjamin Hoeman 
Suevanus Hoeman 



Masters. 
David Sayrs 
Abee Scuee 
Joseph Ingersoll 
David SomERS 
James Deae 
Lemuel Garrison 
James Robart 
Peter Frambes 
Andrew Frambes 



A foot note says these indentures may be 
Jas. Steelman at Stevens Creek. 



57 



1775 
1786 

1786 

1785 
1784 
1785 
1785 
1785 
1785 
seen at 



From 1789 to 1792 the 
pear: 

Thomas Campbell 
Andrew Blackman 
Japhet Ireland 
Thomas Doughty 
Jonathon RislEy 
Joseph Plummer 
James Belangie 
John JeeeriES 
John Stuard 
Daniel Lake 

Daniel Benezet, Jr. 

Thomas Someor 

Daniel Leeds 

Samuel RislEy and 

Judith his wife 

John Winner 

Mark Scull 

David Scull, Senr. 

Noah Smith 

Return Badcock 

James Nelson 



names of the following ap- 

William Read 

Andrew GoderEy 

Daniel Tilton 

Elias Smith 

Joshua Smith 

John Engarsol 

Jonathon Badcock 

David Sayrs 

Thos. Cartwright 

Joseph English 
Daniel Steelman 
Richard Somers and 
Sophia his wife 
Richard Wescoat 
Samuel English 
Arthur Sellers 
Jonathon Johnson 
James Weems 
Sarah Scull 
Mary Covenover 
Sarah Steelman 



58 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 



Richard Price 
John Stewart, Jr. 
John Stewart, Sr. 
William Beaston 
James Jeffryas 
Jeremiah Smith 



Joseph Blackwood 
Timothy Bandref 
Nath. Sipple 
Elijah Barret 
Joseph Sawens 
Thomas Powners 



From a few pages of indemnifying bonds concern- 
ing the poor children of Great Egg Harbor twp., we are 
able to record the overseers of the poor, also the bonds- 
men: 

Overseers Bondsmen 

Feby 

1772 Hugh McCollum Edward Higbee 

Amos Ireland Eve Smith 



July 

1772 David Sayrs 
Jacob Somers 
Amos Ireland 
Abner Doughty 



Andrew Carson 
Isaac Scull 
John Aarons 



1774 John Ingersoll 
Joseph Scull 



David Sayrs 
Lemuel Sayrs 



1776 Samuel Risley 
James Steelman 



Gideon Badcock 
Return Badcock 



Throughout the book, which is very dilapidated, 
are several entries regarding stray hogs and cattle. 

The reversed rear part of the township book, to the 
number of about one hundred pages, is filled with copies 
of Apprenticeship papers carefully made out by the over- 
seers of the poor. The first thirty pages are missing, so 
that the first of these records now begins in the year 
1779 and the last in 1832. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 59 

The apprentices, as a usual thing, were to be taught 
to read and write, and in some instances arithmetic as 
far as the single rule of three. 

The amount of wearing material due at the expira- 
tion of the contract was always carefully specified, and it 
is noticeable as time progressed that the expiration terms 
became more favorable for the apprentice. In the later 
years a suit of broadcloth, a cow or a heifer was not un- 
common. 

The principal businesses to be learned were black- 
smithing, wheel-wrighting, seamanship, husbandry, house- 
work, spinning. 



Inn and Tavern Licenses* 

In the ancient records of Gloucester County fre- 
quent mention is made of road-side taverns. The license 
applications showing the signatures of hundreds of the 
best known men of their times were examined, and I 
copied the application of the Queen of all, Ann Risley, 
whose tavern was known far and wide for its generous 
and gracious hospitality. The fish, clams, oysters and 
crabs of Little Egg Harbour Bay and its tributaries, not 
to say anything of the sugar, molasses and rum from the 
West Indies made the tavern of Ann Risley known all 
over the province. Ann was just as famous in 1770 as 
the multi-millionaire hotel owners of Atlantic City are 
to-day, and it would be a safe bet to make that her meals 
were just as good. Some one should erect a monument 
on the site of Ann Risley's tavern. Year after year her 
license was renewed. On April 10, 1770, Edward Bowen 
and David Scull were her bondsmen for twenty pounds 
each, and her application for this year is copied in full. 
To the Honourable Bench of the Justices As- 
sembled at Gloucester. 
Most Honourable Bench 

The humble petition of Ann Risley, Widow of 
Great Egg Harbour Township, Gloucester County 
in the Province of West New Jersey Humbly shew- 
eth that your petitioner having kept tavern near 
Abesekom Bridge in the said township for several 
years past hath thought proper to acquaint your 
honours that she hath built her an house with stab- 
ling and other conveniences for the entertainment 
of & travellers thereby doth humbly entreat your 
Honours to grant her a license to continue the same, 
it being a suitable stage, there being no other within 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



62 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

ten miles and in vindication of the truth of this 
likewise of her character several of the principal in- 
habitants of said province have thought proper to 
set their hands hereunto. Your Honours taking the 
same into consideration will oblige your petitioner 
to ever pray. Ann RislEy . 

Robert Morss John Ingersol 

Obadiah Reid John Leeds 

John Somers Feeix Leeds 

Frederick Steeeman Henry Smith 

John Kaid or Reid? Daniel Leeds 

George Payne Nehemiah Leeds 

Joseph Covenover Richard Collins 

Benjamin Brush John Somers 

Burnet Richards John Covenover, Jun'r 

Richard Westcot Richard Somers 

Abner Doughty Micajah Smith 

Levi Gensly? Daniel Smith 

Thomas Chamberlain Hugh McCollom 

James Steelman also kept a place of entertainment 
in his house in the lower end of Gloucester Co. (now At- 
lantic) for several years. His application for a license 
for the year 1770 was signed by 

Recompense Scull Elisha Smith 

Frederick Steelman Nehemiah Leeds 

Joseph Ingersol Christopher Lucas 

Richard Somers Daniel Lake 

Archibald Moffett, later a Captain of Militia during 
the Revolution, and the owner of a fleet of boats carrying 
merchandise from Carpenter's Landing to Philadelphia, 
via Mantua Creek, and at his death the most extensive 
land owner in Gloucester County and the ancestor of 
over five hundred living descendants, including a couple 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 63 

of our own members, kept a licensed tavern at his house 
in Greenwich Township. His 1770 license application is 
signed by 
Samuel Shivers John West? 

Michaell Fisher, Jun'r Jo Hugg 
John Barnes William Tomlin 

Restore Estlack S. Blackwood 

During the War of 1812, when 82 years old, his 
house was used as a recruiting station by the U. S. 

His bond dated June 19, 1770, is signed by Daniel 
Cozens and Jo Hugg. 

Mary Hutchinson was also granted a license to keep 
a tavern at the house where she lived in Woolwich town- 
ship. Her application was signed by 
John Mayhew Abraham Nelson 

William Morgan Bodo Otto 

Stanford Mayhew Matthew Niewkirk 

Jacob Elwell Isaac Flanningham 

David DuBois Isaac Albertson 

Michael Richman S. Blackwood 

Her bondsmen were James Budd and Thomas West. 

Joseph Tatem was also an Inn keeper, and he was 
granted a license for his house in Deptford Township in 
1767. Those who signed his application were: 
James Ward Samuel Flanningham 

John Sparks* Joseph Ward 

Isaac Ballenger Benjaman Rambo 

William Harrison Luke Gibson 

Caleb Beekham Abraham Chattin? 

Samuel Perce Simon Sparks 

James Brown John Duell 

William Flanningham Jonathon Morgan** 

* Ancestor of Chairman of our Membership Committee. 
** Ancestor of our Historian. 



Slavery in Old Gloucester* 

Slavery existed here as elsewhere in New Jersey, but 
there is plenty of evidence to show that many of the 
slave owners were opposed to it. 

In a dilapidated book in the basement vault of the 
Gloucester County Court House, at Woodbury, is a rec- 
ord of a few of the slaves who were freed. 

According to this book it was somewhat of a for- 
mality to free a slave. The owner would appear with 
the slave before two of the overseers of the township 
and two of the Justices of the Peace, who would ex- 
amine the slave for soundness of mind and body and age, 
to determine capacity for self support. The names of 
most of the slaves were fanciful or Biblical, such as 
Ishmael, Levi, Jeremiah, Aaron, Roger, Tab, Flora, 
Violet, Rintha, Phillis, Boston, Coffee, Tabby, etc., etc. 

There were a few slaves in New Jersey at the out- 
break of the Civil War, and it is not unlikely that some 
of them were owned in the confines of Old Gloucester. 

The first record in the Manumission Book is John 
Gill, Sr., who freed a slave on Nov. 23, 1787. 
Joseph Hugg, March 26, 1788. 

Lize Smith late Price, widow of Robert Friend Price, 
Esq., Blanche Price, Hannah Albert late Price and Mary 
Price, freed a slave May 24. 1788. 

Hannah Wilkins, late Hannah Matlack, widow of 
Joseph, freed one on Dec. 7, 1789. 
Amy Hunter, Jan'y 6, 1791. 
Hugh Creighton, Apr. 18, 1791. 
David Cooper and Samuel Allinson, on Dec. 27, 
1774 freed a negro woman named Catherine, and her 
five children born on various dates ranging from 1758 
to 1772. 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 



66 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

The following persons also set slaves free on the 
dates mentioned : 

Joseph Bates, Aug. 12, 1791. 

Joseph Hugg and Elizabeth Hugg, Dec. 1, 1789. 

Susannah Taylor, Oct. 22, 1789. 

James Hurley, Jan. 3, 1782. 

John Gill, May 31, 1792. 

Jacob Stokes, May 31, 1792. 

Edward Gibbs, Aug. 30, 1792. 

Marmaduke Cooper, Dec. 17, 1792. 

Joseph Hugg, July 16, 1793. 

David Davis and Rachel his wife, March 25, 1794. 

Thomas Wilkins, June 9, 1794. 

Joseph Cooper, Dec. 15, 1796. 

Elizabeth Room and Barzilla Room, July 17, 1795. 

William Eldredge, July 29, 1791. 

Susannah Taylor, Oct. 11, 1791. 

Thomas Carpenter, March 2, 1792. 

Thomas Clark, July 4, 1800. 

Joseph Hugg, Esq., Apr. 4, 1800. 

Abigail Ellis, John Blackwood and Samuel Ellis, 
Administrators of the estate of Joseph Ellis, dec'd Aug. 
20, 1 801. 

Henry Roe, Aug. 14, 1801 

Elisha Clark, June 20, 1802. 

Isaac Mickle, April 14, 1803. 

James B. Caldwell and Solomon Combs, Dec. 3, 
1803. 

Elisha Clark, acting Execr. of Elijah Clark, Dec'd, 
Dec. 6, 1802. 

Randall Sparks, Execr. of John Sparks, Esq., Dec'd 
Mar. 30, 1804. 

Samuel W. Harrison, Sept. 8, 1804. 

Joseph Hugg and Elizabeth Hugg, Dec. 1, 1790. 

James Stratton, June 23, 1806. 

John and Jacob Stokes, Execrs. of Jacob Stokes, 
May 14, 1805. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 6y 

Beulah Graisebury, widow of James, Oct. 3, 1807. 

Abigail Stokes, widow of Jacob, Oct. 3, 1807. 

James Hurley, Dec. 24, 1807. 

Henry Wood, Nov. 18, 1807. 

John Browning, June 3, 1809. 

Wm. Hugg, Aug. 4, 18 1 2. 

Stuard Beatty, Sept. 28, 181 2. 

The slave record book is apparently very incomplete 
because it will be noticed that some of the freedom papers 
were not recorded until several years after they were 
granted. Any one interested in the question of slavery 
should search the unrecorded papers that number thou- 
sands and are stowed away in fifty large boxes in the 
Court House Building, covering a period of over two 
hundred years. 



Jfm 

'Mil 




MILESTONE ON KING'S HIGHWAY 

FROM A PHOTO BY REV. EDGAR CAMPBELL 



"The King's Highway"* 

About 1 68 1 the General Assembly at Burlington 
passed an act to survey and set forth a public highway 
between Amboy and Burlington and thence to Salem, 
along the Indian trail through the primeval forest. This 
was destined to become a very important highway, as 
it was laid six rods, or about one hundred feet wide, and 
connected the capitals of East and West Jersey, Amboy 
and Burlington, and long before the advent of railroads 
it was a much traveled thorofare between New York and 
Philadelphia. When my father, Amos J. Peaslee, was 
a boy, he lived near Bordentown (1825) and enjoyed 
going to that place to see the stage coaches arrive from 
New York and transfer passengers to boats for Phila- 
delphia. From Burlington, the Highway was laid 
through Mt. Holly, Moorestown, Haddonfield, passing 
near the home of Elizabeth Haddon, for whom the place 
was named, thence on to Timber creek, which it crossed 
on a bridge a little further up stream than the present 
structure, thence through Westville on to Woodbury, 
crossing that creek a little below Broad street, near the 
home of ex-Surrogate Livermore, on through Woodbury 
— diverging a little from Broad street. At the south 
end of the town it passed over line of present road to 
Mantua, until near the toll-gate, where it took south- 
westerly course by way of Parkville Station to Mantua 
Creek — crossing the same beside the present bridge. 
John Pierson, born 1805, who lived to be a little over 
one hundred years old, told the writer he had traveled 
the old road when a boy, with his father. The road was 
straightened to its present course in 18 12. In doing so, 

* By Gideon Peaslee. 



yo Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

they desired to locate the bridge over Mantua Creek a 
little further down stream, to make the route more di- 
rect from Mantua Grove to Mount Royal, or Berkley, or 
Sandtown, as it was then called, but found it so difficult 
to secure a proper foundation, they erected the new 
bridge beside the old structure, so the depression on the 
east of the present roadway and immediately beside it 
marks the line of the "King's Highway." After crossing 
Mantua Creek and looking to the northwest, about one 
half mile distance, on the old Tatum, now Jacob Nolte, 
farm can be seen, according to a Pennsylvania botanist, 
the largest oak tree within one hundred and fifty miles of 
Philadelphia. Measurement in 1905 — six feet from the 
ground — a circumference of twenty-five feet two inches, 
height ninety feet, spread of branches one hundred and 
sixteen feet ; near this tree the great emancipator first saw 
light. An account of his life states that father Tatum 
fixed up an old hen house for a temporary dwelling for 
his daughter — located near the Great Oak, as it was 
then called — and in it Isaac Tatum Hopper was born in 
the year 1770. Passing through Mount Royal, in which 
place is an old graveyard, neatly enclosed by wall, which 
belongs to the Episcopal Church — in 1770 a church was 
erected here where the congregation worshiped until the 
present house in Clarksboro was built. One Thomas 
Clark, was a very prominent member of the old con- 
gregation. Passing through Mount Royal, where the 
railroad to Salem intersects the stone road, stands an 
old stone dwelling that in those days was used for a 
hotel, which they called "The Death of the Fox." A 
fox was once killed in a clump of bushes just south of 
the building, where the sportsmen in those days sallied 
forth astride a horse, accompanied by a dog and gun, in 
quest of the wary animal. Who first reached the victim 
and secured the coveted brush, with which he decorated 
his hat, hastened to the old Inn, where he was soon 
surrounded by his fellow hunters who assembled there 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 71 

to lubricate their exhausted muscles and joints before 
disbanding from the chase. 

The friends of "John Barleycorn" were no better 
prohibitionists then than they are now. In those days, 
was a well in the middle of the "Highway," with a road 
passing on either side of the pump, which brought forth 
very good water much used to refresh man and beast 
wearied from traveling the sandy roads then so prev- 
alent. A shed was attached to the north end of the 
hotel, under which was located a pump which drew water 
from the well through a pipe. When the gravel turn- 
pike was built, in 1852, the wooden pump was drawn 
out and a large stone capped the well. The writer re- 
members the old stick lying beside the road when he 
was a boy. Passing through Clarksboro the "Highway" 
was shaded at Mickleton with a fine large old oak — 
measured in 19 12 — circumference, six feet from ground, 
17 feet 4 inches; height, 91 feet; spread of branches, a 
little less than 100 feet — it was damaged by a leaky 
gas pipe and taken down in 19 14. Nearby stands the old 
Friends' meeting, erected in 1798 in place of one located 
near Solomon's Graveyard, destroyed by fire. The pres- 
ent site was donated by Samuel Mickle and Samuel Ton- 
kin. From the gallery of the house the writer has heard 
William Haines give many good sermons. His son, 
William P. Haines, called the "fighting Quaker" be- 
cause he went with a New Jersey regiment to the Civil 
War, here delivered a very interesting address about the 
"old oak," which he published with a good picture of the 
old landmark. He spoke of the Quaker founder of 
Pennsylvania halting under its branches when riding to 
Salem on horse back. Cornwallis's men have rested here 
after their labor of burning the old Tonkin House, just 
below, so you see, the fine tree sheltered friend and foe 
under its branches. The home of Tonkin was in the 
south of Mickleton; place now occupied by John C. Heri- 
tage. The fine old stone house is quite a historic build- 



J2. Notes on Ou> Gloucester County. 

ing, having been burned twice. During the Revolution 
the farm was occupied by Bodo Otto. A member of his 
family was surgeon in charge of a hospital at Valley 
Forge. The house was burned either in the fall of 1777 
or summer of 1778 by the British; it was burned by acci- 
dent some years later, and rebuilt in 18 19. 

Edward Tonkin, who succeeded his uncle, Samuel 
Tonkin, in the ownership of the farm, took great inter- 
est in and soon began to raise some exceptionally fine 
cattle. About 1835 we began to hear talk of two un- 
usually large and fine oxen. The "Big Cattle" were 
heralded far and wide — statesmen, governors, congress- 
men and persons of all classes came to view and admire 
them. An English nobleman passing through Philadel- 
phia came down to see them and told Mr. Tonkin he 
was interested in cattle raising in England, yet he had 
never seen any oxen to equal them. The old Salem mail 
stage often halted and gave the passengers fifteen or 
twenty minutes to look at them. It was not unusual* to 
see six or eight carriages standing by the wayside while 
the occupants were admiring the cattle. One winter's 
Sunday, the sleighing being excellent, the visitors began 
to arrive early in the morning and continued in crowds 
the entire day; a member of the family kept an account; 
the number was over 1,000. Mr. Tonkin employed an 
Englishman, Thomas Pacy, to take care of them. The 
currycomb and brush were used on them daily. An 
excavation was made in the ground about three feet deep, 
sloped at one end and roofed over; into this they were 
allowed to go, to be protected from the extreme heat of 
summer. In February, 1838, they were sold to a firm 
in Washington for the sum of $3,500. On the 24th of 
February, 1838, a huge box, built on four wagons, passed 
up the road, and every one living on the road for miles 
knew that the "Big Cattle" were to be taken away. This 
box was built by Messrs. Reeve, at Alloway, who took 
the measurements of the covered bridges — to insure the 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 73 

passage through them. The hindermost wheels of the 
wagons were lowered somewhat, by excavating the 
ground, so as to lessen the incline of the bridge by which 
they were driven into the box. The box had a partition 
which was put in place when the first one had entered. 
Twenty horses and mules were used to haul them to 
Camden, where they arrived late in the afternoon, and 
found the tide so low they could not be put on the boat. 
This story was narrated by the late Daniel L. Pine, on 
April 13, 1903, in the writer's hearing: A pilot, then 
living, told him that Sunday morning, February 25, he 
saw them hauled to R. R. Ferry at the foot of Bridge 
Avenue, and placed on the steamer "State Rights," and 
landed at the foot of Walnut Street, Philadelphia. _ This 
was a boat especially constructed to carry the railroad 
passengers in the early days of the old Camden and 
Amboy R. R., and was the only ferry boat whose gang- 
way was wide enough to admit of two wagons abreast. 
Once in Philadelphia, the horses were taken away and 
the wagons moved by men grasping a rope after the old 
manner of handling fire engines. One was taken to 
Washington and slaughtered; the other, after being ex- 
hibited in several cities, was taken to New Orleans and 
killed. Their weights were 3,750 and 3,800 pounds. 

Just below the Tonkin's farm the "Highway" took 
a southeasterly course to avoid Craft's Hill, passing by 
the places now occupied by John G. Roberts, Walter 
Heritage, back of Theodore Brown's, by the house of 
his grandfather, John Brown, on to Swedesboro, passing 
very near the home of former Governor Stratton— 
crossing Raccoon Creek a little north of the present 
bridge — there are persons who believe it passed the oppo- 
site end of the old Episcopal Church— but I have been 
unable to find any record of such course ; passing through 
Swedesboro it took the Sharptown route on through 
that village, then to Salem. 

Many large old oaks can be seen from this traveled 

5 



74 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

"Highway" ; not the least of these was the fine old 
Monarch, still standing near the road's terminus in 
Friends' Graveyard, Salem, N. J. Measurements, by 
Joseph B. Livezey, in 1905, circumference at the earth, 
twenty-eight feet three inches; spread of branches, one 
hundred and eighteen feet four inches. There is much 
speculation as to the age of these old trees; the last one 
mentioned must have seemed very ancient to Robert J. 
Burdette, who told a whole audience in Salem the tree 
was four years older than the Atlantic Ocean, and no 
one seemed to question his authority for the statement. 

Several old mile stones have been resurrected near 
Swedesboro and reset along the present road — marked 
respectively "18, 19, 20 miles to Coop's Fy. S.," at the 
top — bottom of the stone, "to Salem 1773." A portion 
of the distance indicated must have been measured on 
the "Kings Road," which started at Cooper's Ferry and 
intersected the "Highway" near Westville. 

Many have heard the oft told romance said to 
have occurred along the Old Highway, between Park- 
ville R. R. Station and Mantua Creek. In Elizabeth 
Haddon's hospitable home many English Friends were 
entertained, who felt concerned to come to this coun- 
try on religious visits. Upon this important occasion, a 
company of Friends started from Haddonfield on horse- 
back to attend meeting in Salem. In passing through 
the ravine, which is still visible just south of Parkville 
Station, her saddle girth became loose (?) accidentally. 
She called upon John Estaugh, a young minister in the 
party, to adjust it. After the others had passed on and 
they were alone, she took the opportunity to tell him 
she believed the Lord had sent him to this country to be 
a life companion for her. It took the young man rather 
unawares. He told her the Lord had commissioned him 
to perform an extensive religious visit and could not give 
her proposition much attention until that service was 
accomplished. After performing the religious visits, he 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 75 

returned; their marriage resulted in 1702, and they lived 
happily together until his death, in 1742. About 1744 
she wrote some account of the life and religious labors 
of John Estaugh, published by one Benjamin Franklin, 
a printer in Philadelphia. I saw in Haddonfield recently 
a copy of the publication. 

Samuel M. Janney in his "Memoirs of Friends" 
says of Elizabeth Haddon : "Her father having lands in 
New Jersey, proposed to settle upon them and sent 
persons to make suitable plans for their reception, but 
being prevented from coming, his daughter Elizabeth, 
then a maiden less than twenty years of age, came over, 
with her father's consent, and fixed the habitation where 
he proposed to have done. She was endowed with good 
natural ability, which being sanctified by divine grace, 
rendered her eminently serviceable as a benefactor of 
the poor, a sympathizer of the afflicted and an influen- 
tial member of religious society." 

Clarksboro, N. J., Jan. 25, 19 17. 



The Moravian Church* 

At Oldmans Creek, Gloucester County, N. J. 

The early history of a religious movement is largely 
the personal history of those who founded it. No factor 
enters more largely into the establishment of any new 
movement than the personality of those who promote 
it. 

Especially is this true in religious work. One has 
but to look at the characters of John Knox, Martin 
Luther, Menno Simon, George Fox and John Wesley, 
leaders of what might be termed the more modern move- 
ments in the religious world, to see that this is un- 
doubtedly true. 

The wonderful personality of these men made pos- 
sible the great movements which have influenced the world 
from their time till now, and no doubt will still roll on 
with greater or less velocity as the years shall come and 
go. Most every leader has some peculiar mannerisms 
which may attract a few, and some are enveloped in a 
perfect cloud of mysticism which allures many, but the 
masses demand something more than these to fasten 
their affection; they want to feel that convincing in- 
fluence of sincerity before they yield their obedience. 

Strikingly true was this the case in regards to the 
founder of Herrnhutism, or what is more commonly 
called, the Moravians. Nicholaus Ludwig, Count von 
Zinzendorf and Pattendorf, was born at Dresden, May 
26, 1700. His early education was cared for by his 
grandmother, we are told, and at the age of ten years 
he was sent to Halle, where he spent six years under the 
special care of Francke, the philanthropist. At this early 
age, it is said, he began to form a design to gather to- 
gether a little society of believers among whom he might 
* By Geo. B. Macaltioner. 



78 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

live and who should entirely devote themselves in exer- 
cises of devotion under his personal direction. 

Having become a priest, he travelled during 1 the 
years of 1719 to 1721, through Holland and France, 
everywhere endeavoring to convert the distinguished 
persons whom he met to his own religious views. 

Upon his return to Dresden he was appointed a 
member of the Saxon State Council, but as political life 
was not to his liking he returned to his country seat in 
Upper Lusatia, settling at Bertholdorf. 

Finding a student in whom he found sentiments 
akin to his own, he gave him the curacy of his estate. 

Bertholdorf soon came to be known for this sort of 
piety. While residing here he accidentally met a wan- 
dering carpenter named Christian David, a member of 
the old sect of Moravian Brethren, who told him of the 
persecutions of his brethren. The Moravians were an 
Evangelical Society which had its beginning in Bohemia 
among the followers of that noble martyr, John Huss, 
who was burned at the stake in 141 5, originally known 
as the Bohemian Brethren. With the granting of the 
Bohemian charter, in 1609, they obtained a legal status, 
but afterwards were suppressed and exiled. Their 
growth in Hungary gained some importance, but at the 
peace of Westphalia, Austrian lands were excluded from 
religious liberty and their Polish parishes were gradually 
absorbed by other Protestant bodies. Still the seed re- 
mained in Bohemia, and their Bishop, Johann Amos 
Comenius, republished their history and confession, and 
endeavored to reestablish its discipline. A revival of 
religion in Moravia led the awakened to abandon their 
homes and go to Saxony for religious liberty. 

According to Le Long, Christian David had been 
in Saxony before and he induced two or three families 
to migrate there. The Count received them gladly at 
Bertholdorf. They built their first house in the woods, 
in 1722, and soon a large number from Moravia and 
elsewhere had fixed their residence there. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 79 

In a few years it became quite a village, having an 
Orphan house and other public buildings, so that in 1732 
the inhabitants numbered 600 souls. 

An adjacent hill gave the colonists a name for the 
place, Huth des Herrns or Herrnhuth, "The guardian 
or protection of the Lord." 

They soon established the discipline of Comenius. 
which bound them closely with an entire dependency on 
their superiors. 

The Society was divided into separate classes, with 
a director over each. The Count did not permit the so- 
ciety to expand, as other churches do, nor did he require 
its members to sever their relations with the State 
Church. His purpose was more especially to establish an 
exclusive system by which it was desired to secure a 
membership solely of converted men and women. 

A great portion of their worship consisted in sing- 
ing, which they highly developed, the Count having writ- 
ten many of their hymns. The casting of lots was prac- 
ticed much among them, they making use of the same to 
know the will of the Lord. The Elders had the sole 
right of marriage, and no promise was valid without 
their consent. 

One great feature of their work was that of mis- 
sions, extending all over the world. As early as 1733 
they had a mission in Labrador, which continued till 
1900, when they transferred it to the Danish Lutheran 
Church. While they had a ritual, free prayers were al- 
lowed in public worship. 

Every ten years a general synod was held, and every 
detail of their work was thoroughly gone into. In the 
year of 1735 the Moravians emigrated to Georgia, and 
five years later found them in Pennsylvania, where they 
built Bethlehem and Nazareth. 

The Count was the motive power of the whole So- 
ciety, the dynamo that ran the whole machinery. At the 
synod held at Marienborn, Germany, near Frankfort-on- 



80 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

the-Main, in November, 1739, news was received of the 
destitute condition of the Swedish Churches on the Dela- 
ware. A band of evangelists was at once commissioned 
to go to Pennsylvania. The Count soon followed the 
brethren to America, arriving in New York December 
2, 1 74 1, and on to Philadelphia by December 10th. 

In the year following several companies of emi- 
grants came to America that had formed a church gov- 
ernment that should be observed during the long, tedious 
voyage at sea. These were known as the Sea Congrega- 
tions, the first of which arrived in Philadelphia, June, 
1742, consisting of 56 members. Among this number 
was one, Paul Daniel Bryzelius, who was to inaugurate 
the work in New Jersey. He had been schooled in the 
college at Upsala, in Sweden, and was ordained at Frank- 
ford, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1742-3, as a Presbyter 
by Bishop David Nitchman, according to the orders of 
Count Zinzendorf, just before he left for home. He 
was commissioned by the Count for special service in 
New Jersey. 

The Moravian Church in New Jersey found its be- 
ginning at this time, owing to the fact that the Swedish 
churches were pastorless and the German Lutheran 
Church, at Friesburg, neglected. The condition in the 
Swedish Churches was brought about by the govern- 
ment of Sweden withdrawing its financial support from 
the Colonial churches on the Delaware. They had ex- 
pended over $100,000 in trying to establish the State 
Church in New Sweden, and after a century's effort 
found that little real progress was being made. They 
therefore withheld their annual appropriation. This 
angered many of the members, causing them to stop 
paying into the church treasury, and absenting themselves 
from the services. The priests soon found their liveli- 
hood was not assured, and several of them returned to 
Sweden. John Dylander, the pastor at Wicacoa, died, 
and as no new ministers were coming over, there re- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 8i 

mained but one Swedish minister in the country, Prevost 
Tranberg, at Christine. Tranberg had been the pastor 
at Raccoon (Swedesboro, N. J.) and Penn's Neck (St. 
Georges), and at a parish meeting told the brethren how 
poor his support had been, and if it was not improved 
he would be forced to leave. 

The conditions remained unchanged, whereupon 
Tranberg applied for a transfer from the Raccoon Parish, 
which Royal Commission was granted to him and he 
removed to Christine (Wilmington, Del), after having 
been their pastor 15 years. This left the New Jersey 
churches pastorless. On January 13, I742"3» Paul 
Daniel Bryzelius travelled directly to Prevost Tranberg, 
at Christine, and proposed to supply the need for very 
little salary. Prevost Tranberg accorded him a hearty 
welcome, and gave him charge of three Swedish churches 
and one German Lutheran, at Friesburg, or Chohansey, 
which was neglected, having been built there in 1738, 
near the Glasshouse. The Swedish churches were at 
Maurice River, Raccoon and Penns Neck, Bryzelius 
preached his first sermon in the house of Goran Hyn, at 
Maurice River, with acceptance, on January 26, 1742-3- 
From Raccoon he received a call from 33 members, and 
thither moved his family. For almost a year he served 
the parish to the satisfaction of the majority of the peo- 
ple, but when Magistrar Naesman, the pastor at Wicocoa, 
came down on December 23, 1743, having but recently 
come from Sweden, he proceeded to rid the church of 
Bryzelius. This created an uproar, disturbing the peace, 
whereupon the Governor landed a number of men in 
jail. As this was a religious, and not a civil affair, the 
matter was referred to a jury of 25 men, whereupon 
the court advised Bryzelius, for the sake of peace, to 
refrain from preaching longer at Raccoon. 

In the interim between the rumpus and the decision 
of the court, the Society of Friends offered Bryzelius their 
house of worship which was near, which he accepted and 



82 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

there gathered larger congregations than ever. In 1744 
Laurence T. Nyberg, with his Moravian followers, were 
shut out of the German church at Lancaster, Pa. The 
followers of Bryzelius sent to Nyberg and asked him to 
send them Abraham Reinecke, who came in the spring of 
1745, and gathered large audiences, holding services in 
the house of Thomas Denny, at Raccoon. Reinecke 
brought with him an evangelist by the name of Sense- 
man. They came from Bethlehem and were met at 
Philadelphia by Peter Rambo, who conducted them to 
Raccoon. Nyberg took charge of the work in New Jer- 
sey. He was a man of great resources and enlisted the 
services of energetic evangelists to help him. Among 
the men who itinerated through New Jersey were Sven 
Rosen, Thomas Yarrel, an Englishman, Owen Rice, 
Mathew Reutz, who died at Oldmans Creek while preach- 
ing there on October 7, 1753, Joseph Powell and many 
others. The efforts of these men were not to proselyte, 
but to lead men to Christ. 

Of all the many preaching stations in New Jersey 
where services were held, but four seemed to have taken 
on any semblance of church formation. Maurice River, 
with which Bryzelius was identified in erecting, located 
about 3 miles from Leesburg, was dedicated December 
18, 1746, in the presence of Reinecke, Rice, Rentz and 
Nyberg; Penns Neck was dedicated j ust one year later, 
December 18, 1747; the church at Raccoon, in March, 
1748, with 24 members, and the church at Pilesgrove, 
as it was sometimes called. 

The Church at Pilesgrove, Oldmans Creek, or 
Woolwich, was begun in 1747, by Laurence T. Nyberg, 
and dedicated by Bushop Spangenberg and Pastor Ny- 
berg, on August 31st, 1749. I have before me a com- 
munication from D. Jos. H. Muller, archiver, dated 
Herrnhut, Saxony, December 4, 1906, in which he in- 
forms me that among the "Spangenberg Papers" he 
found letters concerning his visits to New Jersey, and 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 83 

one especially, a 12-page manuscript, in which Brother 
Nyberg states that "on August 31, 1749. I accompanied 
Bishop Spangenberg to consecrate the new Swedish 
church at Pilesgrove, or Oldmans Creek, in the Jerseys. 
The membership at this time numbered 29, among whom 
were the following: George Avis, Nicholas Dahlberg 
and wife, Charles Dorsan, Andrew Holstein Lawrence 
Holstein, Sr., and his son Lawrence Jr Larse Hop- 
man, Michael Kett, Mons Kyn, Peter Lauterbach, Adam 
Lehberger, Saml. Lynch, Christopher L.nmyer, Bate- 
man Lloyd, Obediah Lloyd, Alexander Mueller, John 
Roalin Samson a slave, Garret Van Immen and wife 
John Van Immen and wife, William Van Immeaand 
wife, Andrew Van Immen and wife, Jechoniah Wood 
and Teremiah Wood. This church was destined to have 
the longest life of all the Moravian Churches ,n New 
Jersey. It was built on the farm of George Avis, which 
ay between two branches of Oldmans Creek, along the 
King's Highway. Tradition says that the ground to 
build the church on was given by George Avis, and also 
a large quantity of lumber. Later, when the congrega- 
tion had grown, Bishop Seidel, of Bethlehem, Pennsyl- 
vania, bought of George Avis and his wife Jane, Janu- 
™ 22, 1767, one and one-half acres of land on the 
King's Highway, for 5 £'s. . 

6 The following year there was an extensive awaken- 
in., among the people, and at the Synod held at L.t.tz, 
Pa (1768), this congregation applied for recognition as 
an'integral factor among the brethren. The petition was 
granted, whereupon a change in pastors took place, and 
Frederick Schmidt was in 1769 appointed pastor, the 
membership was now 120. 

The church prior to this time was under the con- 
trol of the Mission Board. Pastor Schmidt served the 
church through that trying time of the Revolutionary 
War, from 1769 to 1783- I" '775 the parsonage was re- 
built Pastor Schmidt's diary furnishes some very inter- 



84 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

esting facts about the war and affairs as they then ex- 
isted : 

"On Friday, Dec 5, 1777, twenty American militia- 
men were quartered in the parsonage." 

"On Feb. 25, 1778, over 2,000 English troops 
passed on their way to Salem. The house was full of 
soldiers, polite, but carried off all the rifles and arms 
they could find." 

"Feb. 26, 1778. The garrison left for Bethlehem, 
having been here several months. The neighbors talk of 
flight. Myself and wife have determined to remain." 

"May 10, 1778. Many militiamen at church." 

"June 12, 1778. A skirmish took place near here 
between the English and the militiamen. One of the lat- 
ter was killed." 

"Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 1778. Bishop Ettwein came 
and visited the church." 

"Nov. 29, 1778. Several persons from Salem at- 
tended services. They complained that the bridges were 
destroyed by warfare." 

The membership at the close of the war was 134, 
with one exception the largest in its history. 

In 1783 the Rev. Francis Bohlen came as pastor, 
and in a report dated June 11, 1786, sent to the confer- 
ence, he states "that the meetings are well attended by 
Presbyterians, Methodists and Quakers. Twenty chil- 
dren are in the Sabbath School, and a beginning has 
been made towards the erection of a new meeting house." 

The church had been reorganized by order of 
Bishop Jan Von Waterville, son-in-law of Count Zinzen- 
dorf, in 1785. and in the following spring the present 
brick edifice was begun. The old church was built of 
logs and was about 24 feet square, sheathed inside, with 
scanty furnishings. As one looks at this ancient building 
he will notice the striking resemblance it bears to other 
churches built during this same period. The church at 
Swedesboro was built in 1784. The Friends' Meeting 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 85 

House, at Woodstown, in 1785, and this structure here 
at Oldmans Creek in 1786, all bear the same stamp and 
style. 

From 1793 to 1798 Rev. Frederick Moehring was 
pastor, but the congregation began to fall off. I am in- 
formed by Dr. John W. Jordan, of the Pennsylvania 
Historical Society, that the cause lay largely in the fact 
that Moravians persisted in holding their services in the 
foreign tongues, and the young people thereby fell away. 

From 1798 to 1800 the church was without a pastor. 

Rev. Saml. Towle served in 1801 and 1802, and 
Pastor John Casper Treytag, from 1802 to 1803. This 
was the last settled pastor the Moravians had. 

In 1807 the Methodists were allowed to worship here 
until they were forced away, and went and built the 
Pilesgrove Methodist Church, a short distance away. 

In 1834 the Episcopalians asked for the use of the 
building and it was granted them, since which time they 
have spent much effort and money to maintain the 
services in this place. This Moravian Church was the 
last one in New Jersey, until the modern Moravians were 
established. 

One cannot leave this intensely interesting study of 
this once active theatre of religious work without re- 
ferring to that which still remains. Where once the 
tread of hurrying feet was heard as they wended their 
anxious way to the worship of the Lord, silence now per- 
vades the scene, and it is only broken by an occasional 
visitor who comes perchance to see the old landmark or 
read the epitaphs upon the markers of the silent city of 
the dead. 

Here in this sweet spot of earth, rich with the mem- 
ories of the past, lie buried the noble men and women 
who stood for right and who defended our homes and 
gave to the nation its power to be born, and to us a home 
for which we feel the deepest gratitude. As we linger 
in the shadow of these moss covered walls, as if in hope- 



86 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

ful fancy we might hear the echo of those wonderful 
words of life that fell from the lips of those ancient sol- 
diers of the cross, there comes floating to us on the wings 
of the past those inspiring words of the leader and 
founder of these ancient soldiers, Zinzendorf, 1721 : 



Jesus, still lead on, 

Till our rest be won ; 
And although the way be cheerless, 
We will follow, calm and fearless ; 

Guide us by thy hand 

To our Fatherland. 



The Gloucester County Board of Freeholders 



FIRST RECORD BOOK OF PROCEEDINGS BEGINS IN I/OI. 

The first volume of the Minutes of the Board is 
bound in leather, in a fair state of preservation, and is 
marked Book A., on outside cover, in a bold, plain hand, 
the color of the ink being stilL very black, and is now in 
the custody of the Gloucester County Board of Free- 
holders. 

On the first page, entries appear as follows : 

1 701. 

"Glo. County, December 7th, Anno Domini, One 
Thousand Seven Hundred and One." 

"The Grand Jury held at Gloucester ye 6th day of 
First Month, Anno Domini, 1701, does order that Thomas 
Sharp and John Wood, Treasurers of ye last County 
Taxes, do bring in an accompt to the next Grand Jury 
of ye disposal of ye sayd taxes, in order to know what 
remaynes in Bank." 

On the second, third, fourth and fifth pages, under 
dates from 1694 to 1706, there appear accounts with 
Andrew Robeson, Thomas Sharp, John Ashbrook, Wil- 
liam Wardner, John Kay and John Wood, for Taxes in 
the Townships of Newton, Water ford, Gloucester, Dept- 
ford and Greenwich. 

The first regular entry of minutes is under date of 
July 13th, 1704. This record is as follows: 

TAX ORDERED. 

"We, the Grand Jury for ye Court, held at Glouces- 
ter, the 13th day of Seventh Mo., 1704, do order a tax 
* By George E. Pierson. 



88 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

to be levied, in manner following, for the discharge of a 
debt to ye Sheriff, John Shay, and other emergencies, re- 
lating to this County of Gloucester, and ye remaining part 
or overplus to be assessed by ye Grand Jury : For each 
ioo acres of land, surveyed and taken up, sixpence; for 
each horse and mare exceeding one year old, six pence; 
for neat cattle exceeding one year old, three pence; for 
sheep exceeding one year old, one pence; for each free- 
man in hired service, or otherwise, one shilling and six 
pence; for each negro exceeding twelve years old, one 
shilling and six pence, to be paid in a month's time, after 
ye old tax is all got in. Out of which tax we allow 
twelve pounds and ten shillings to be paid John Shay for 
defraying the expenses of the Justices of Gaol Delivery 
the last Court, and for his trouble for going to Burling- 
ton about the County's business." 

LORD CORNBURY VISITS GLOUCESTER. 

On December 19, 1704, this record appears: 
"We, the Grand Jury for the County of Gloucester, 
do order eighteen shillings to buy twelve bushels of char- 
coal for the prisoners, and two pounds two shillings to 
buy three match coats for the prisoners' use, so long as 
shall have occasion for it, and then to be returned for 
the County's use. We allow seven shillings and six 
pence to the Clerk for five warrants to gather the above 
tax. We allow Matthew Medcalfe twelve pounds six 
shillings for defraying the Lord Cornbury's retinue's ex- 
penses when he was lately at Gloucester, and six shillings 
to John Gideon for a coffin for the murthered child, and 
six shillings more we allow him by discount of his old 
tax in the year 1694, for bringing the Justice and Coroner 
to Gloucester. We also allow eight pounds twelve shil- 
lings and four pence to John Shay, for defraying the 
Lord Cornbury and his attendants' expenses when he 
was latelv at Gloucester." 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 89 

On January 1st, 1705, a pair of stocks was ordered 
built before next Court, and "Matthew Medcalfe had 
undertaken to get them to be built." 

On September 12th, 1705, five pounds was ordered 
paid the Sheriff for prison charges, and Matthew Med- 
calfe to procure twenty bushels of charcoal, and two 
shifts for the prisoners' use. 

Under the same date, this record appears : 
"We, the Grand Jury for the County of Gloucester, 
having taken into our consideration the great expenses 
that our Assemblymen are at, and have been hitherto and 
mostly at their own charges, and likewise that they want 
money for the defraying of some debts, on necessary oc- 
casions for the County's use, do order a tax to be levied, 
and that our Assemblymen for time to come, be paid for 
every day that they shall serve in Assembly, each of them, 
five shillings per day, and the rest to be appropriated as 
the Bench and Grany Jury shall direct." 

The tax was levied in the same manner as the pre- 
vious assessment had been made. Matthew Medcalfe 
was nominated and appointed County Treasurer, and 
Collectors were appointed for Waterford, Newton, Glou- 
cester, Deptford, Greenwich and Egg Harbor Town- 
ships. 

EARLY ACCOUNTS. 

On January 12, 1706, this minute is recorded: 
"We, the Grand Jury of the County, having called 
John Reading and Matthew Medcalfe to make up their 
accounts concerning the County's money that was raised 
in the year 1694, and paid them to build the Prison and 
Court House, and they affirm that they did formerly 
make up and balance accounts with the Grand Jury, at 
Gloucester, and think it hard to be called to account now 
over again, and Thomas Sharp being now one of the 
Grand Jury, affirms that he was then on the Grand Jury 
some years ago, when the said John Reading and Mat- 
6 



90 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

thew Medcalfe made up and balanced account with the 
Grand Jury." 

"The Grand Jury orders John Kay and John Heri- 
tage on behalf of his father, to bring their Duplicates of 
the County Tax that was raised in the year 1694, and 
make up their accounts with the next Grand Jury which 
shall be at Gloucester." 

COST OE KEEPING PRISONERS : SECRETARY BASS COMES 
EROM BURLINGTON. 

On January 12, 1705, allowance was made John 
Shay, late Sheriff, 2 shillings and 6 pence per week for 
keeping prisoners 123^2 weeks, which amounts to 15 
pounds, 1 1 shillings and 3 pence. Whereof he has been 
paid 5 pounds, and the remainder being 10 pounds, 11 
shillings and 3 pence, with 2 shillings and 6 pence for 
care of the prisoners ; Ordered paid by Thomas Sharp 
and John Kay, Treasurer and Collector of the old County 
Tax, if there be so much in their hands, at or before the 
next County Court; if not, then by Matthew Medcalfe, 
present Treasurer. Secretary Bass was allowed 40 
shillings for his services to the County for coming from 
Burlington to qualify the Justices. 

On February 2, 1707, an allowance was made "John 
Ashbrook, Sheriff, for eight pounds, six shillings and 
seven pence for keeping of the prisoner, Christian Boll, 
60 weeks, and procuring her one shift, a pair of socks, 
and one petty coat, to be paid by the Treasurer of the 
County, if there be so much in his hands after the As- 
semblymen are paid ; if not, then out of the County Tax 
is now raised." 

PAY FOR MEMBERS OE ASSEMBLY. 

On April 2, 1707, "We, the Grand Jury of the 
County of Gloucester, do order Matthew Medcalfe, 
County Treasurer, to pay our Assemblymen each of them 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 91 

five shilling's per clay, for each day that they have served 
in Assembly, since the 12th day of September, Anno 
Domini 1705, as soon as they shall bring the accounts 
under the Clerk of Assembly's hand." A tax levied at 
this meeting provided that it should be paid the County 
Treasurer, "in money or Country produce, at the prices 
following, viz : Wheat, 4 shillings 6 pence per bushel ; 
rye, at 3 shillings per bu., and Indian corn at 2 shillings 
6 pence per bu. ; to be delivered and brought into the 
County Treasurer, Medcalfe, at his dwelling house by the 
respective inhabitants, within the date of September 1st." 
The Treasurer was allowed six pounds, with his reason- 
able charges, in receiving and paying off the corn, etc. 

ADDITION TO COURTHOUSE. 

At a meeting held August 3, 1708, the Grand Jury 
met at Gloucester to consider emergencies, concluded it 
was "necessary that an addition be made to the Prison 
and Court House, in manner following, viz : that it be 
joyned to the south end of the old one, to be made of 
stone and brick, 12 foot in the clear, and two story high, 
with a stack of chimneys, joyning to the old house, and 
that it be uniform from ye foundation to the Court 
House." 

I708 TAXES. 

To effect this improvement, these taxes were levied : 
For every 100 acres of land taken up and surveyed, one 
shilling; for every horse and mare above 3 years, one 
shilling ; for neat cattle exceeding 3 years, six pence ; for 
sheep exceeding 1 year, two pence ; for hired service or 
otherwise, three shillings; for each negro exceeding 12 
years, 3 shillings ; to be paid in current silver money, 
corn, or any other country produce. 

At a meeting held January 14, 17 10, the death of 
Matthew Medcalfe, County Treasurer, was announced, 
and Thomas Sharp was appointed in his place. 



92 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

At a meeting held October 17, 1712, it was ordered 
that Joseph Cooper and Thomas Sharp undertake the let- 
ting 1 out of the work of an addition to the Prison and 
Court House, according to the dimensions given by the 
Grand Jury, in the 8th month, 1708, with the concur- 
rence of the Bench. 

There is a statement from Thomas Sharp, for re- 
ceiving the tax laid for the building of an addition to the 
Prison and Court House, of Matthew Medcalfe, who was 
first appointed for the service. The amount was ' 32 
pounds 17 shillings and 7 pence, leaving a balance in his 
hands of 7 pounds, 7 shillings and 10 pence. Only about 
7 pounds 3 shillings and 4 pence seem to have been ex- 
pended for Prison, on this statement. The entries of 
receipts ran from February 2, 171 1, to January 25, 1714, 
and the disbursements from May 20, 1712, to April 21, 
I7I5- 

NAMES OF JUSTICES AND FREEHOLDERS. 

Prior to 171 5, the public business of the County 
seems to have been transacted by the Grand Jury. After 
that year, the Justices of the Peace and Freeholders ap- 
pear as the governing body, as is shown from the recorded 
minutes under date of April 5, 171 5,. For the first time 
the names of the Justices and Freeholders are given as 
follows : 

Justices — Richard Bull, John Inskeep, George Law- 
rence, John Rambo, Joseph Tomlinson, not present, yet 
consents. 

Freeholders — John Kaighn, Peter Long, John Ladd, 
Jacob Clement, Joseph Cooper, Jacobus Culin, John 
Shivers. 

BOUNTY FOR WOLVES, PANTHERS AND FOXES. 
NEW JAIL. 

This minute appears of record : 

"We, the Justices and Freeholders, as above named, 
do unanimously order, conclude and agree that there shall 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 93 

be raised on the inhabitants of this County of Gloucester, 
proportionably after the same manner as the tax for the 
support of Her Majesty's Government, for two years last, 
and to walk by the Rules of the Lists already in the Col- 
lector's hands, according to proportion, viz: Eighty 
pounds for building a Prison and repairing the Court 
House, and fifteen pounds for wolves, panthers and red 
foxes; and that for ye assessing and collecting the sums 
aforesaid, there is hereby appointed Thomas Sharp and 
Samuel Ladd, Assessors for the respective Townships of 
the County aforesaid, which said Assessors shall meet at 
Gloucester, on or before the eleventh of this instant to 
assess the inhabitants, according to the above mentioned 
proportion, and make fair lists of the said assessments, 
and deliver the same to the Collectors undernamed, at or 
before the fifteenth day of this month, which Collectors 
shall deliver a copy thereof to ye Constables of each Town 
or Precinct who is hereby required, immediately on receipt 
hereof, to give notice to the several inhabitants within 
their respective districts of the sums they are to pay, which 
sums shall be payable to the Collector or Collectors, at or 
before the Fourth Tuesday so called in May next, which 
Collectors are Peter Long and Jacob Clement for ye 
County. And upon non-payment, then the Collector is 
hereby required to deliver a list of the delinquents to any 
one Justice of the Peace of said County, who is hereby 
required forthwith to issue his own warrant or warrants 
to the several Constables, commanding them to levy the 
same by distress on ye Goods and Chattels of each delin- 
quent, and expose the same to sale to pay theyor respective 
sums to the Collector or Collectors, at or before the third 
Tuesday so called in June next, and pay the overplus, if 
any be, to the owner, deducting twelve pence for himself 
for each distress, and six pence to the Justice for the war- 
rant. 

"And we appoint Thomas Sharp and Joseph Cooper to 
be Managers to see and cause to be done the work follow- 



94 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

ing, viz : To build a Gaol Twenty- four foot long in the 
clear and fifteen foot broad in the clear, and the wall in 
the full height from the foundation nine foot high and two 
foot thick, well done with good mortar of lime and sand ; 
and to lay the upper and under floors with the planks of 
the old prison; to make a good roof to it and necessary 
doors and windows ; and to remove the Court House 
where the new Prison is to stand, and repair the same 
as shall be needful." 

These minutes are signed by Thomas Sharp, Clerk. 
A meeting was held at Gloucester, on the Fourth Tues- 
day in March, 1716, pursuant to an act of Assembly, en- 
titled "An act for raising of money for the building of 
Gaols and Court Houses." There were present the fol- 
lowing : 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, John Mickle, Con- 
stantine Wood, Samuel Ward. 

Freeholders — Samuel Coles, John Inskeep, Joseph 
Cooper, Jr., William Albertson, Joseph Tomlinson, John 
Hillman, George Ward, James Lord, James Holm, John 
Friend, William Harrison, Abraham Albertson. 

Clerk — Thomas Sharp. 

The Managers for the erection of Prison and Court 
House asked to be relieved, and John Hugg, John Mickle 
and William Albertson were appointed in their place. 

On March 26, 1717, a meeting was held, with the 
following present : 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, John Mickle, Con- 
stantine Wood. 

Freeholders — John Inskeep, Samuel Coles, Joseph 
Cooper, Jr., William Albertson, John Hillman, William 
Harrison, Abraham Albertson, Henry Wood, John 
Rambo. 

Clerk — Thomas Sharp. 

At this meeting the Managers reported that they 
had expended toward the building of the Prison, so far 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 95 

as it was done, the sum of fifty-three pounds five shillings 
and seven pence, and that there was a balance from the 
one hundred pounds levied in the last two years of forty- 
six pounds fourteen shillings and five pence. John Hugg 
and William Albertson were appointed to complete the 
work and to build a stone stairs at the east end. In order 
to assist in the expense they were empowered to sell the 
old Court House and Prison for the best price they could 
get. 

TIMBER CREEK BRIDGE REBUILT. 

Constantine Wood and William Harrison were ap- 
pointed Managers to rebuild Great Timber Creek Bridge, 
and to make it in breadth from outside to outside eleven 
feet, the sleepers and camp sills to be made of good white 
oak. 

On the 25th of March, 17 18, the following were 
present : 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, John Mickle, Amos 
Athead, Constantine Wood. 

Freeholders — Samuel Coles, Samuel Harrison, 
Thomas Sharp, William Albertson, Abraham Albertson, 
Joseph Tomlinson, John Ashbrook, John Cooper, Robert 
Lord. 

Clerk — Thomas Sharp. 

It was reported that nineteen pounds sixteen shil- 
lings and nine pence more had been expended than tax had 
been laid, by the Managers of Timber Creek Bridge, and 
it was allowed from the taxes laid for the Prison and 
Court House. It was ordered that 80 pounds be levied for 
the perfection of the Prison and Court House, and 20 
pounds for killing wolves, panthers and red foxes, and 
when the money is come in Managers shall be chosen to 
carry on the work. 

UNSATISFACTORY PRISON. 

At another meeting "it was put to vote whether the 
Prison, as it is now built, being defective, should stand, or 



g6 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

be pulled down; it was carried by ye majority of votes to 
be pulled down." 

"It is further concluded by this meeting, since there 
is not money enough already raised for the building and 
finishing the Prison and Court House, that there be levied 
on the inhabitants of this County, the sum of one hundred 
pounds, to be assessed and laid upon them according to 
law, and the Assessors meet at Gloucester to perform their 
service the twenty-first day of the second month, and at 
that time they be furnished with the lists of the taxable 
estates of ye people, in order to lay every man's part 
justly, and that it be payde into ye Government Collector, 
for the time being, by the first day of the Sixth Month 
next. 

"Abraham Porter and William Harrison are ap- 
pointed Managers to agree with workmen and perform 
work aforesaid, according as it is hereafter expected, as 
it was formerly agreed at this meeting. 

"The Trustees of Egg Harbor Township, neglecting 
appearance, are fined." 

CONTRACT AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR COURT HOUSE AND 

PRISON. 

At a meeting held the 13th day of the Second Month, 
1 7 19, this minute appears of record: 

"This meeting agreeth with Abraham Porter and 
William Harrison, the Managers appointed by the same, 
that they undertake and appoint workmen for the build- 
ing and fully finishing the Court House and Prison, ac- 
cording as it is underwritten in particulars, and that they 
fully finish and perfect the same, by the first day of the 
Sixth Month next, under the penalty of fifty pounds each, 
and that for the doing thereof this meeting agrees that 
they shall have the sum of one hundred and seventy 
pounds paid them by the County Collector of the County 
for the time being, viz. : One-third at the beginning of 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 97 

the work; one-third at the finishing of the roof, and the 
other third on the full finishing, if it be in the Collector's 
hands, and that they are not to have the sum the law 
directs being concluded, and it is fully allowed in the 
sum above said." At the same meeting, "Also it is agreed 
that the Prison as it is now built being defective, shall be 
pulled down to ye lower floor, and rebuilt upon the same 
foundation with good fresh lime and sand to ye same 
hight it now is with corner chimneys at each end, and bar- 
red with iron in each funnel to prevent escapes; a parti- 
tion in ye middle of three inch plank, as also a house of 
office, to each prison, made in the manner of a well, with 
brick six foot deep, and boarded together with a port at ye 
entrance with a second door into ye prison for the better 

security." 

"A Court House built upon it of well burnt brick, 
a brick and a half thick, well laid in good lime and sand, 
nine foot in the height, a pair of substantial stone stairs, 
at ye east end, made of hewn stone, four foot long, 
with a peddiment over them ; two transom windows on ye 
south side, a casement in each window, the lights agree- 
able to ye building; one of the same kind on ye north 
side and a casement ; a large folding door case and doors 
with lights over it, at the head of the stairs, for an en- 
trance ; the walls of the Court House well plastered and 
whitewashed; the lower floor of the Court House well 
joyned and planked upon them, and a floor of inch boards 
well planed and nailed down upon them ; the floor above 
ye Joyces of pine planed on both sides with inch boards; 
a pair of stairs up in the garret, and a window in each 
gable end, well roofed and shingled, and to jut over a foot 
on each side and to be considerably set off under the 
eaves ; a Gallery at the west end from side to side, well 
railed, with stairs at each end ; a Table and Bar below, 
railed that it may sufficiently accommodate the Justices, 
Clerk, Attorneys and Jurors; also to find glass, nails, 
iron work, locks, hinges, and to finish the whole building 



98 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

as is convenient and suitable to such a work, and that 
all the timber, except boards and ye upper Joyce of the 
Court House, be good white oak. 

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 

At a meeting held at Gloucester, on the 5th day of 
the Second Month, 1720, these Justices and Freeholders 
were present : 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, John Mickle, 
Ashead. 

Freeholders — Samuel Harrison, Thomas Stokes, 
Joseph Cooper, Thomas Sharp, Abraham Porter, John 
Ashbrook, John Siddon, William Harrison, Robert Lord, 
Richard Chew, Peter Long. 

At this meeting Ann Ware was allowed five pounds 
for her trouble in keeping, nursing and burial of Mary 
Lorman. 

Abraham Porter was allowed four pounds for laying 
the lower floor of the Prison. 

Amos Ashead, Coroner of ye County, was allowed 
four pounds ten shillings for taking of eight inquests, 
where nothing was to be had to satisfy the charges and 
trouble. 

WHIPPING POST, STOCKS. 

It was agreed that a pair of substantial stocks be 
built near the Prison, with a Post at each end, well fixed 
and flattened with a handcuff iron at one of them for a 
whipping post. 

OLD COURT HOUSE AND PRISON SOLD. 

"This meeting doth sell unto William Harrison the 
old Prison and Court House, for the sum of eight pounds, 
which he promises to pay into the hands of Thomas 
Sharp, within the space of three months, there to be made 
use of for ye County's service." 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 99 

Thomas Sharp, Clerk, was allowed one pound for his 
services, and the Justices and Freeholders three shillings 
per day for their services to the County. The expenses, 
at the meeting of the Board, were also ordered paid by 
the County. 

TOWNSHIPS AND THEIR FREEHOLDERS. 

In the minutes of the meeting on the 8th day of the 
First Mo., 1 72 1, the names of the Freeholders first appear 
from the respective Townships. There were present as 

follows : 

Justices—- John Hugg, John Mickle, Amos Ashead. 

Freeholders— Water ford, Joseph Bate; Newton, 
Joseph Cooper, Jr., William Cooper; Gloucester, John 
Hugg, Abraham Porter; Gloucester Town, William Har- 
rison, Francis Jones; Deptford, Richard Chew; Green- 
wich, Peter Long, Edward Eglington ; Egg Harbor, 
Daniel Ireland. 

BOOK FOR RECORDING DEEDS ORDERED. 

At this meeting it was ordered that 50 pounds be 
raised towards the destroying of wolves, panthers and 
red foxes, a Recording Book for Deeds, &c, and to pro- 
duce as many Constable's Staves as wanted, together with 
the new painting of the old . ones, and for any other 
emergencies which shall be thought good. 

COURT HOUSE BELL ORDERED ; IRONS EOR PRISONERS. 

At a meeting held Third Mo. 30th, 1721, this record 
appears : 

"A proposal being made forasmuch as an incon- 
venience being found for want of something to apprise 
the people of the time of the sitting of the Courts, from 
time to time, that a Bell be erected over the Roof of the 
Court House, with something to cover it. Thomas Sharp 



ioo Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

is disposed to purchase the same, when money comes in- 
to his hands, and get it hung and perfected, the price not 
to exceed eight pounds." 

The Sheriff was allowed one pound and eleven shil- 
lings on account of Irons and putting them on prisoners, 
and "that he take special care of them for the same 
service as occasion requires." 

PARLIAMENTARY RULES. 

The Rules or Orders of the Board are given as fol- 
lows: 

"No person to speak without standing up and direct- 
ing his speech to the Chief Justice. 

"No person to speak above twice to one matter un- 
less leave be first obtained. 

"No person to interrupt while another is speaking. 

"The forfeiture in the breach of any of them, six 
pounds." 

DEATH PENALTY ENEORCED. 

At a meeting held November i, 1721, an allowance 
was made to the Sheriff for executing James Moore, his 
Horse, Saddle and Brass Pistol, and for executing Chris- 
tian Boll, alias Logan, and other fees, nine pounds and 
eight shillings. Other expenses were paid Joseph Hugg 
for charge of Christian Boll, and drink for , &c, 

twenty-one pounds, 19 shillings and six pence; Samuel 
Coles, for expenses about handcuffs and other expenses 
in pursuing and taking James Moore, 6 pounds, and David 
Jamison, Chief Justice, for Court services, ten pounds. 

tax levied. 

At this meeting it was ordered that eighty pounds 
be raised for above expenses, and other emergencies. The 
manner of raising this money is described as follows : 

"Every 100 acres of land, that's tilled, seven pounds ; 
all horned cattle, horses and mares two years old, and up- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. ioi 

wards, one pound per head; all sheep at three shillings 
per head ; laboring men who work for hire, three shillings 
per head ; all servants male in either white or black above 
sixteen years old, shall be nine pence, and that those 
whose taxable estate does not amount to one shilling, 
shall, notwithstanding, pay one shilling, save laboring 
men who work for hire, shall not be excused under three 
shillings. John Kay's Grist Mill, four shillings ; George 
Ward's Grist Mill, John Brown's Fulling Mill, six shil- 
lings; Samuel Ward's Saw Mill, two shillings; Richard 
Valentine's Saw Mill, four shillings ; Egg Harbor Mill, 
three shillings ; Stephen Mullica's Grist Mill, one shilling ; 
Town Lots in Gloucester, one shilling and six pence; 
Gloucester Ferry, fifteen shillings ; William Cooper's 
Ferry, seven shillings and six pence." 

At a meeting held on the 27th day of the First 
Month, 1722, the following named Justices and Free- 
holders were named as members : 

Justices — John Kay, Samuel Ward, Thomas Spicer. 

Freeholders — Waterford, Thomas Spicer, John Ins- 
keep; Newton, John Hillman, Benjamin Thackara; 
Gloucester, John Ashbrook, William Shay; Gloucester 
Town, William Harrison, Francis Jones ; Deptford, Con- 
stantine Wood, Richard Chew; Greenwich, Edward 
Eglington, Richard Brickham; Egg Harbor, Gustavus 
Fish, Samuel Harem. 

Benjamin Thackara, Richard Brickham, Gustavus 
Fish and Samuel Harem did not attend. 

Thomas Sharp was chosen Clerk, at a salary of one 
pound for his service. 

FREEHOLDERS El NED. 

This record appears in the minutes of this meeting: 
"Whereas, by a Minute of this Board, held the thir- 
teenth day of the Second Month, Anno Domini 17 19, 
Abraham Porter and William Harrison were appointed 



102 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Managers for ye Building ye Prison and Court House, 
under the penalty of fifty pounds each, in ye non-perform- 
ance of the same, which they at ye time consented and 
agreed to, being ye members of the same body, and the 
work as yet lying and not completed, ordered that Thomas 
Sharp, if they neglect ye perfecting of it, by the twenty- 
eighth of ye Third Month next, shall prosecute them, the 
said Managers, for their deficit upon that account; or 
otherwise a prosecution shall be proceeded in against ye 
said Thomas Sharp for paying ye third and last payment 
before it became due." 

It was ordered that Thomas Sharp shall get a table 
with a bench on each side over in the Court House, to ac- 
commodate a Jury as occasion shall require. 

This action was taken by the Board : 

''Whereas, Benjamin Thackara, Richard Brickham, 
Gustavus Fish and Samuel Harem, members of this 
Board, did not make their appearance here this day to 
join in the business of the County, therefore they are 
hereby fined the sum of twenty shillings per man, and 
ordered that Thomas Sharp give the delinquents aforesaid 
notice of it that they make their appearance at the time of 
adjournment, and to bring in their fines at that time to 
save further trouble and charge." 

These fines were remitted at the next meeting, on 
reasonable excuses being rendered for their absence. 

At a meeting held on the 5th day of the Fourth 
Month, 1722, these persons were present: 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, Samuel Ward. 

Freeholders — Waterford, Thomas Spicer, John Ins- 
keep; Newton, John Hillman, Benjamin Thackara; Glou- 
cester Tp., John Ashbrook, William Sharp; Gloucester 
Town, William Harrison, Francis Jones ; Deptford, Con- 
stantine Wood, Richard Chew; Greenwich, Richard 
Brickham; Egg Harbor, Gustavus Fish, Samuel Harem. 

At this meeting this record appears in the proceed- 
ings : 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 103 

"Whereas, Debate hath arisen what should make a 
certain division in any matter or thing that might arise in 
debate before the meeting of Justices and Freeholders, 
the conclusion of this meeting is that two of the three 
Justices, one being of the quota, together with a majority 
of the Freeholders, shall be sufficient to confirm any mat- 
ter that may be thought necessary to be done." 

STOLEN HORSE RETURNED TO OWNER. 

At a meeting held the 13th day of the Ninth Mo., 
it being put to vote whether the horse that was stolen by 
David Drury should be forfeited to the King, or to be re- 
turned to the owner, agreed that the owner have him. 

SUMMARY OE PROCEEDINGS. 

From the foregoing records it appears that the first 
Court House and Jail was erected in 1694. A new Court 
House and Jail was evidently practically completed in 
1720, as the old Court House and Jail was ordered sold 
to William Harrison, at the meeting held February 5, 
1720 for eight pounds. A later minute in 1722 seems to 
indicate, however, that the buildings were not entirely 
completed to the satisfaction of the Freeholders. The 
principal public expenditures during the period covered 
by these minutes seem to have reference to the building 
of the second Court House and Jail, and the repairs and 
rebuilding of Great Timber Creek Bridge, with minor 
expenditures for the destruction of wolves, panthers and 
red foxes, &c. It is very evident that many slaves were 
owned by these early inhabitants, as they seem to be one 
of the sources depended on for taxation. 

Notes from the Record Book of the Board of Chosen 
Freeholders above, cover a period from 1701 to 1722 
Subsequent proceedings covered about the same nature of 
business as before recorded. 



104 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

wild beasts killed. 

On the 1 2th day of May, 1726, Joseph Cooper, Jr., 
County Collector, produced to the Justices and Free- 
holders 29 certificates for wolves' and panthers' heads, 
and for whelps of wolves, which amount to 21 pounds 
and 15 shillings; also 2.7 certificates for fox heads, which 
amount to 2 pounds and 14 shillings. 

In the minutes of December 11, 1733, this record 
appears : 

"The Board orders Ann Wheeldon one pound eigh- 
teen shillings for the expense of the sitting of this Board, 
which was paid in presence of the said Justices and Free- 
holders, and she received the same, but refused to give 
receipt on request." 

On May 8, 1734, it was ordered that a pair of stocks 
and whipping post be erected at Gloucester, before the 
prison windows, and Timothy Matlack be appointed to 
build it. 

At the same meeting it was ordered that the square 
whereon the Court House stands be laid out, and the 
bounds thereof be ascertained, and the persons appointed 
to see it laid out be Joseph Cooper, Thomas Spicer. Timo- 
thy Matlack and John Hinchman, and that they get a sur- 
veyor as they think proper, and that they get it done 
before the next Court, and bring in the charge thereof to 
the next sitting of this Board. At a meeting held May 
12, 1736, the same order was given, and on June 11. 1736, 
John Hinchman was ordered paid one pound twelve shill- 
ings and eleven pence for the laying out of the square. 

WATCH AND WORK HOUSE. 

On June 15, 1736, the Board ordered a Yard and 
Watch House and also a Work House be built and erected 
before the front of the prison at Gloucester, on the south 
side of said prison, and also a Cellar the whole bigness of 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 105 

the Watch House, and also a Well to be sunk within the 
said yard, and a Pump to set therein. The Yard, Watch 
House and Work House to be erected and built according 
to the dimensions of a draft that is lodged with the Clerk 
of the Board. A Tax of 200 pounds was ordered raised 
for the defraying the cost thereof, and to be collected 
within four months time. 

At a meeting held August 29th, 1738, this record 
appears : 

The Board orders that the Watch House, which is 
now finished, be and remain in possession of the High 
Sheriff of the County of Gloucester, for such person as he 
shall think fit to dwell in this year, and the said Sheriff 
promises to take care that such person shall keep the said 
House in repair, and also take care of the Court House, 
that is, to secure the windows and keep the door shut, and 
sweep and keep it clean. The Sheriff was named William 
Tatem. 

OWNERS OE TAVERNS, MILLS, STORES, BOATS AND 
EERRIES TAXED. 

At a meeting held January 15, 1739, the Board 
ordered the sum of Eighty Pounds to be raised for the 
use of the County, and to be levied in the following man- 
ner : 

Taverns or Public Houses — Benjamin Peters, Gabriel 
Friend, Robert Gerrard, Hugh Carwell, Henry Sparks, 
Enoch Ellison, Jacob Ware, Isaac Hollingshead, Sarah 
Bull, Daniel Cooper, Thomas Periweb, Sarah Norris, five 
shillings each, except Ellison, 2 shillings 6 pence ; Hollings- 
head, 3 shillings, and Norris, 2 shillings 6 pence. 

The Grist Mills— Samuel Shivers, William Ward. 
Andrew Hoffman, Jacob Cozens, Robert Gerrard, Jona- 
than Fisher, James Childs, Elisha Smith, Egg Harbor; 
Lake Gibson, George Ward, 2 mills ; Richard Cheesman, 
Andrew Ware, Henry Roe, John Peterson, James 



106 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Somers, 2 mills; John English, from 2 shillings 6 pence 
to 6 shillings. 

Stores and Shops — Abraham Chattin, Michael 
Fisher, John Hopper, Timothy Matlack. 

Ferries — Jacob Ware, Daniel Cooper, Benjamin 
Cooper, 8, 10 and 6 shillings. 

Flats and Wood Boats — Six pence per cord. 

Single men 2 shillings each, male servants and ne- 
groes, all above 16 years, 6 pence each. The remainder 
to be raised on the pound value. The assessment to be 
made March 1st and the tax to be paid May 15th. 

John Ladd, Jr., was ordered paid 20 shillings for 
his services as Clerk for the year 1739. Abraham Chat- 
tin was ordered paid ten shillings for treating the work- 
men at the building of the Watch House, and John 
Kaighn forty shillings for treating said workmen. 

The Managers for building the Watch House, John 
Kaighn and Abraham Chattin, produced the account of 
the same, amounting to 246 pounds 5 shillings and n 
pence, which was approved and allowed by the Board. 
At a meeting held April nth, 1740, a committee 
reported that Great Timber Creek Bridge could no longer 
be repaired, and that a new bridge must be built. A tax 
of 160 pounds was ordered levied to defray the cost of 
erection of New Bridge. 

COUNTY COLLECTORS, JUSTICES AND FREEHOLDERS AND 

CLERKS. 

As before stated, the public business of the County 
was jointly conducted by the Justices of the Peace of the 
County and the Board of Chosen Freeholders. During 
the period from 1723 to 1740 inclusive, these persons are 
recorded as being the members of the two bodies during 
that time: 

Justices — John Kay, John Hugg, John Mickle, 
Samuel Coles, Samuel Ward, Abraham Porter, Abraham 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 107 

Ledden, John Inskeep, John Rambo, Isaac Jennings, 
David Vanneman, Alexander Randall, James Hinchman, 
John Jones, Robert Zane, Constantine Wood, Abraham 
Chattin, Alexander Morgan, John Hinchman, John Ladd, 
Jr., John Kaighn, Thomas Wilkins, Joseph Coles. 

Freeholders — John Hillman, Benjamin Thackara, 
William Harrison, Francis Jones, John Ashbrook, Rich- 
^ ard Chew, Constantine Wood, Richard Brickman, Gus- 
tavus Pish, Thomas Spicer, John Inskeep, William 
Sharp, Edward Eglington, Samuel A. Burroughs, 
Samuel Downs, Joseph Cooper, Jr., John Shay, John 
Cooper, Jr., Robert Gerrard, Matthew Mattson, John 
Jones, James Steelman, Richard Somers, John Hinchman, 
John Mickle, John Brown, of Manto ; John Cook, Samuel 
Harrison, John Smallwood, Joseph Ledden, Thomas 
Sharp, Harmames Holmes, Oake Holmes, Israel Ward, 
James Somers, John Mickle, Joseph Bate, John Kay, John 
Kaighn, John Young, Jacobus Van Culin, Peter Steel- 
man, Richard Somers, Caleb Culin, Alexander Morgan, 
James Hinchman, William Cooper, Joseph Tomlinson, 
Jonathan Ladd, Stephen Jones, Robert Smith, Jeremiah 
Adams, Richard Cheesman, Timothy Matlack, Joseph R. 
Cooper, George Ward, Samuel Driver, Nathan Lake, 
William Cordery, John Matlack, Hans Steelman, Jacob 
Couzens, Edward Doughty, Edward Somers, Thomas 
Ellis, Samuel Coles, Tobias Holloway, Joseph Kaighn, 
Samuel McCollick, Amos Ireland, Samuel Shivers, 
Thomas Bickham, Isaac Jennings, Josiah Kay, John 
Shivers, Simeon Ellis, Abraham Chattin, Peter Long, 
William Read, John Tomlinson, John Thorn, John Wood, 
Elias Steelman, Edward Higbee, James Hinchman, 
Joseph Young, Thomas Coles, William Ellis, William 
Wilkins, Amariah Ballinger, Hance Steelman, Abel Scull, 
Nehemiah Leeds. 

During this period the following named persons 
served as County Collector and Clerk of the Board : 



io8 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

County Collectors — Matthew Medcalfe, Thomas 
Sharp, Joseph Cooper, Jr. 

Clerk — Thomas Sharp, William Harrison, John 
Kay, John Ladd, Jr. 

EXPENSES OF SHERIFF PAID. 

On May 12th, 1742, this minute appears of record: 

''The Board orders Joseph Cooper, Collector, to pay 
to Samuel Harrison, High Sheriff of the County of 
Gloucester, the sum of ten shillings for gloves which he 
bought at ye tryal of James Collins, and also fifteen 
shillings for a halter, and expenses which he was at." 

At this meeting the Collector was ordered to pay 
William Hugg the sum of four pounds and four pence, 
the expenses of the Board at this sitting, being two days. 

On May 8, 1745, the Board ordered that the sum 
of one hundred and sixty pounds be raised for the use 
of the County in defraying the charge of killing wolves, 
panthers, crows, black birds, &c, and the necessary re- 
pairs of the Jail and Court House, &c, and to be levied 
in the manner according to the direction heretofore given 
for levying the last County Tax (Taverns excepted) 
and that all stores, shops and mills erected in the County 
since the last like assessment, to be taxed at the As- 
sessors' direction. 

whipper imported; convicts hanged. 

On March 9th, 1750, these entries appear in the 
records : 

"Ordered, that ye County Collector pay unto> John 
Marshall, the sum of one pound, 13 shillings, for making 
3 pair of irons for ye prisoners, and attending 3 days in 
fitting them." 

"At said Board, Samuel Harrison, Sheriff for the 
County of Gloucester, brought in a bill wherein he 
charges the County, to whipping James McBride, 10 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 109 

shillings; for the time and expenses in getting a whip- 
per and whipper's ferriages, 7 shillings, 6 pence; for 
executing John Johnson, John Steward and Edward 
Caral, 15 pounds; for ropes to execute them, 8 shillings 
and 8 pence ; to the executioner's expenses, 1 pound ; to 
digging graves for said men, 6 shillings. Total, 17 
pounds, 12 shillings and 2 pence. The Board taking 
said bill into consideration, allow for the ropes and ye 
digging of graves, 14 shillings and 8 pence; for ye rest, 
are of opinion it is ye Sheriff's office to see ye law exe- 
cuted upon convicts, as they know no law that justifies 
him to any pay for ye execution of his office in such case ; 
think therefore it would be a ill precedent, and not war- 
rantable in them to allow said bill or any of ye like kind. 
Ordered that the Clerk endorse on the back of said bill 
14 shillings 8 pence, allowed for ropes and digging of 
graves; ye rest of ye within bill disallowed, and return 
it to ye Sheriff with an order on the County Collector for 
said sum." 

ADDITIONS AND REPAIRS TO PRISON AND COURT HOUSE. 

It was likewise agreed at said meeting that the 
Prison be enlarged 10 feet in the clear, with ye Road; 
ye walls to be sunk three foot into ye ground, to be 2V2 
foot thick, and a partition carried up the first story; ye 
floor to be pitched with long stone two foot deep, filled 
up with mortar, and floored over with two inch plank. 

Samuel Coles was appointed Manager to see this 
addition built as above, and as soon as conveniently may 

be. 

Tax for 320 pounds was ordered raised at this meet- 
ing, 40 pounds of which was appropriated for killing of 
wolves, and other beasts of prey. 

On March 8, 175 1, it was ordered that the old Prison 
be floored over in the same manner as the new part was 
appointed to be done in 1750, and Samuel Harrison was 



no Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

appointed Manager to see it done as soon as he can con- 
veniently. 

On April 14, 1751, Samuel Harrison was ordered 
paid 17 pounds, 5 shillings, for flooring Prison with 
stone and plank, and usual allowance for paying out 
money. 

At this meeting it was ordered that Robert Stephens 
and Jacob Albertson be Managers to have the addition to 
the Prison built, agreeable to an order of the Board of 
Justices and Freeholders, May 10, 1750, and in the 
manner the said minute sets forth, to be done with the 
greatest dispatch conveniency will admit of. 

On June 22, 1751, this minute appears: 

"This Board viewing ye Foundation for ye addition 
to ye Prison, think it too small. Ordered that it be built 
two foot wider than it was appointed by ye Board ye 17th 
of 4th Mo., 1 75 1, and without any partition. Ordered 
that Robert Stephens and Jacob Albertson get a part of 
ye old Prison not yet floored, done in ye same manner 
as ye other part is." 

ANOTHER NEW BELE ORDERED. 

On January 22, 1753: 

"Ordered that ye Managers get a new Bell for ye 
Court House, of a 100 pound weight, and dispose of ye 
old one to help pay for ye same." 

On February 27th, 1753, it was reported that the 
cost of building addition to Prison was 374 pounds 17 
shillings and 2 pence, including commissions of 10 pence 
per pound, which was allowed by the Board. 

At a meeting held June 12th, 1759, it was "Ordered 
that Joseph Harrison wait on the Governor, with a peti- 
tion for ascertaining the division lines of the several 
Townships in this County, in order to obtain Patent for 
the same, and produce his account of disbursement for 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. hi 

said service to the County Collector, who is authorized 
to pay same. 

On October 6th, 1760, this minute is recorded: 
"Ordered that Samuel Harrison, Jr., and Joseph 
Harrison, repair the Prison chimney, glaize the Court 
House windows, glaize one of the front Gaol windows, 
and make a wooden shutter to the other, clean the well in 
the yard, and if the necessary houses in the Gaol can be 
made more convenient with small expense, the same to be 
done. Also that they settle with Hugh Jones for what 
repairs he made to the County House, and draw on Sim- 
eon Ellis for the moneys in his hands lodged there for to 
repair the damage done by the Riotting Soldiers, and 
apply it towards the aforesaid repairs, and if that be in- 
sufficient, that they draw on the County Collector for the 
residue." 

TOWNSHIP DIVISIONS. 

At a meeting held May 13, 1761, this minute is re- 
corded : 

"Ordered at said meeting that Richard Matlock, 
Henry Wood, John Hinchman, William Davis, James 
Whitall, Joshua Lord, Francis Batten and Jacob Spicer, 
agree with Samuel Clement, Jr., a Deputy Surveyor, to 
run out the division lines of the Townships of Waterford. 
Gloucester Township, Deptford and Greenwich, in said 
County, and a division line between the aforesaid Town- 
ships and Great Egg Harbour in said County, pursuant 
to the directions of an Act of General Assembly of the 
Province of New Jersey, in that case made and provided, 
and that the said division line between Great Egg Har- 
bour and the said other Townships to run as follows, viz : 
Beginning at the southerly branch of Little Egg Harbour 
River, below Richard Fry's ; thence on a straight course 
to the High Hill, on Great Eggharbour old road; thence 
on the same course to the division line of Gloucester and 
Salem Counties ; and extend the said several other Town- 



ii2 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

ships back to the said line, and further, that the said lines 
be run out and marked on or before the first day of Sep- 
tember next." 

At a meeting held September 15, 1761, the several 
persons above mentioned, appointed to run out and mark 
the Township lines aforesaid, together with Samuel 
Clement, Jr., the Surveyor, reported that they had run 
out and marked the several Townships they had in charge, 
and produced a map of the same. 

"Ordered that the County Collector cause the Map 
or Draught, and Certificate of the Division of said Town- 
ships made by Samuel Clement, Jr., Surveyor, to be enter- 
ed in the Clerk's Office of the Western Division of the 
Province of New Jersey, according to the directions of an 
Act of General Assembly." 

COST OP RUNNING TOWNSHIP LINES. 

"Ordered that the County Collector pay unto the 
several persons appointed to run out and mark the several 
Townships aforesaid, their wages and expenses as fol- 
lows : 

Richard Matlack .... 5 pounds, 19 shillings, 1 1 pence 
Henry Wood ..!.... 1 " 18 

John Hinchman 5 13 2 " 

William Davis 5 " 13 " 2 

James Whitall 5 " 13 " 9 " 

Joshua Lord 5 " 17 " 5 " 

Francis Batten 3 " 14 " 5 

Noah Smith 4 " 8 " 6 " 

Samuel Clement, Jr., 

Surveyor 8 " 18 " 2 " 

Total 47 " 16 " 2 " 

A Tax of 70 pounds was ordered levied for the pay- 
ment of the expense of running the lines of the several 
Townships. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 113 

things taxed. 

As the public needs of the County increased with the 
growing population, it is very certain that new sources of 
taxation must be found. This is herewith shown by the 
Tax Levy ordered September 2, 1762, as appears by the 
record as follows : 

"Ordered that the sum of one hundred and fifty 
pounds be raised on the inhabitants of this County, for the 
County's use in manner following: 

"All Householders, the tax of whose ratable estate, 
consisting of certainties, does not amount to one shilling, 
shall be rated at the discretion of the Assessors, not under 
six pence, nor above ten shillings. 

"All Merchants and Shop Keepers shall be rated at 
the discretion of the Assessors, not under one shilling and 
six pence, nor above one pound five shillings. 

''All Saw Mills shall be rated at the discretion of the 
Assessors, not under five shillings, nor above two pounds 
ten shillings. 

"All Grist Mills, for each pair of stones, shall be 
rated at the discretion of the Assessors, not under two 
shillings and six pence, nor above two pounds ten shill- 
ings. 

"All Fulling Mills, to be rated at the discretion of 
the Assessors, not under three shillings, nor above one 
pound ten shillings. 

"Every Ferry shall be rated at the discretion of the 
Assessors, not under two shillings and six pence nor above 
three pounds. 

"Every Coasting Sloop, Shallop, Flat Boat that 
carries for hire, Passage Boat, Pilot Boat and Wood Boat, 
shall be rated at the discretion of the Assessors, in propor- 
tion to their burthen and Business, not under two shillings 
and six pence nor above four shillings. 

"Every Riding Chair shall be rated at the discretion 
of the Assessors, not under nine pence, nor over one shill- 
ing and six pence. 



ii4 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

"Every single man that works for hire, and keeps a 
horse, mare or gelding, shall be rated the sum of four 
shillings. 

"Every single man that works for hire, and does not 
keep a horse, mare or gelding, shall be rated the sum of 
two shillings. 

''Every bought Servant and Slave, being male of 16 
years old and upwards, except such slaves as are not able 
to work, shall be rated the sum of one shilling. 

"All Cattle, Horses, Mares and Geldings of two years 
old and upwards, shall be valued at 25 shillings each head. 

"All Sheep of one year old and upwards, shall be 
valued at 3 shillings each head. 

"All Profitable Tracts of Land, held by Patent, Deed 
or Survey, whereon any improvement is made, the whole 
Tract shall be valued at the discretion of the Assessors, 
not above forty pounds, nor under eight pounds per hun- 
dred. 

"The Assessors to meet at the Court House, in the 
Town of Gloucester, on the 20th day of October, next, in 
order to settle the aforesaid tax, and make out their Dupli- 
cates, and deliver them to the Collector of each respective 
Township, on the 27th day of the present October. Col- 
lector to collect the Tax and pay it to the County Collector 
on the 27th day of November next." 

All the Assessments seem to have been made at a 
joint meeting of the Assessors, at the Court House in 
Gloucester. 

ARMS AND AMMUNITION FROM PERTH AMBOY. 

At a meeting held September 28, 1763, James Whit- 
all was ordered to get the County Book of Records bound 
with calfskin, and pay the cost and produce his account 
when the work is done. This was done at a cost of 7 
shillings 6 pence. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 115 

At the same meeting it was "Ordered that Joseph Ellis 
do receive of John Johnson, of Perth Amboy, Esquire, 
or his heirs, executors, administrators, the Quota of Arms 
and Ammunition which belongs to the County of Glouces- 
ter, and to pay the expenses of storage, if any be, and 
other necessary expenses for transporting the said arms 
and ammunition to the Town of Gloucester, and deliver 
them to William Hugg, of the Town of Gloucester afore- 
said, and the account of the expenses aforesaid to be laid 
before the next Board of Justices and Freeholders. 

"Ordered that David Cooper, County Collector, pay 
unto Jacob Ellis, the sum of ten pounds, in order to en- 
able him to transport the arms and ammunition belong- 
ing to this County from Perth Amboy to the Town of 
Gloucester." 

At a meeting held October 31, 1763, it is noticed that 
there was received this County's proportion of arms and 
accoutrements, as mentioned in the act of Assembly, 
powder and ball excepted. Joseph Ellis was paid 10 
pounds 17 shillings and 9 pence for transportation of 
arms, &c, from Perth Amboy. 

Ordered that William Hugg, of the Town of Glou- 
cester, receive the arms in his custody, and keep them 
until ordered otherwise, and that he employ some person 
to clean them and keep them in good order, and lay the 
expense of the same before the next Board, in order to 
be discharged. 

constables' staees with king's coat oe arms. 
At a meeting held May 10, 1764, it was ordered that 
John Hillman make ten new Constables' Staffs, and get 
them painted with the King's Coat of Arms, and the 
names of the Townships, viz : One for Water ford, one 
for Newton, one for Gloucester Town, one for Glouces- 
ter Township, one for Deptford, two for Greenwich, and 
three for Eggharbour; 45 shillings were paid for this 
work. 



u6 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

William Hugg was ordered paid one pound fifteen 
shillings for getting 159 muskets cleaned. 

COUNTY LINE BETWEEN SALEM AND GLOUCESTER; ARMS 
TO BE SOLD. 

"Letter being read, signed by Robert Johnson and 
John Holme, Justices of the Peace for the County of 
Salem, wherein was an appointment to run and mark the 
line between the Counties of Salem and Gloucester, giv- 
ing notice to two of the Justices of the Peace for Glouces- 
ter County to meet the 25th of June next, which letter 
being laid before this Board ; 

"Ordered, that Francis Batten, George Flanningham 
and Thomas Denny, Esq., be a committee to joyn a com- 
mittee chose by ye Justices and Freeholders of ye County 
of Salem, to run and mark the division line between the 
said Counties, pursuant to an act of General Assembly, 
and that ye said Thomas Denny is hereby appointed as 
Surveyor to assist therein." At a meeting held June 10, 
1765, the committee reported that they had performed the 
duty assigned them, at an expense of 5 pounds 10 
shillings and six pence for Thomas Denny as Surveyor 
for 6 days; Francis Batten, 2 pounds 10 shillings; George 
Flanningham, 2 pounds 10 shillings ; Markers and Chain 
Bearers, 2 pounds 5 shillings, 5 days each. 

At this meeting it was ordered that the County Arms 
be divided into four equal parts between the following 
persons : 

One-fourth part in care of John Hinchman and Isaac 
Mickle. 

One-fourth part to Samuel Harrison, Esq., and John 
Hider. 

One-fourth part to Alexander Randall, Esq., and 
George Flanningham. 

One-fourth part to Michael Fisher and John Sparks. 

The above persons to be entrusted with the said arms, 
and to sell them for the best price they can, the way 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 117 

and manner how to be at their discretion, and to ren- 
der an account of the same to the Board, at Gloucester, 
the first day of December Court next. 

Samuel Clement, Jr., County Collector, reported that 
he had received the following fines : Jacob Orchard and 
Benjamin Lippincott, for refusing to serve as Constables 
in the Township of Greenwich, 10 pounds; James Steel- 
man, for refusing to serve as Town Collector in the Town- 
ship of Greenwich, one pound. 

GUNS SOU). 

At the meeting held December 7th, 1765, reports 
were made as follows : 

John Hinchman and Isaac Mickle reported sale of 
39 guns for 59 pounds 5 shillings and 9 pence. 

Samuel Harrison and John Hider, 39 guns for 57 
pounds 19 shillings and 10 pence. 

Michael Fisher and John Sparks, 38 guns, 57 
pounds. 

Alexander Randall and George Flanningham, 34 
guns, 51 pounds. 

Each Committee reported a balance unpaid on ac- 
count of sales. It was ordered that these balances be 
collected and paid County Collector, at the next meeting 
in May, the committees to receive 5 per cent, commission 
on the whole sum for their trouble. All balances were 
reported paid in full at a meeting held May 13, 1767. 

The County Collector reported the following fines 
from persons nominated as Constables, who refused to 

serve : 

John Kaighn, 5 pounds; Jonathan Paul, 5 pounds; 
James Steelman, 5 pounds ; Gideon Scull, 5 pounds. 

COURT HOUSE DAMAGED BY FIRE. 

At a meeting of the Justices and Freeholders, on 
the 8th day of February, 1768, agreeable to the summons 



n8 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

of Samuel Harrison, Robert F. Price and John H inch- 
man, Justices, to meet and consult on some method to 
repair the damages done to the Court House by fire, 
and other matters for the County's service, the follow- 
ing members appeared : 

Justices — Samuel Harrison, Robert F. Price, John 
Hinchman. 

Freeholders — Waterford, Richard Matlack, Nathan 
Lippincott ; Newton, David Branson, Isaac Mickle ; Glou- 
cester Town, John Brick, John Mickle; Gloucester Town- 
ship, Josiah Albertson, John Hider; Deptford, Joshua 
Lord, James Hinchman; Greenwich, George Flanning- 
ham, Archibald Moffett; Woolwich, Jacob Spicer. 

Woolwich Township seems first to have had a Free- 
holder at the meeting held May 13, 1767. 

The minute records this action at the meeting held 
February 8, 1767: 

"Whereas, by the account of fire, the Roof of the 
Court House is burned off, and other damage done to ye 
said house, it is 

"Ordered by the Board that all necessary utensils be 
purchased, and all necessary repairs be made to the Court 
House and Jail, in or near the manner it was before the 
consumption by the fire, with all convenient speed, and ac- 
cordingly Isaac Mickle and James Hinchman are appoint- 
ed Managers to purchase material and hire workmen, and 
see the work is done and produce their accounts to the 
next meeting of the Board, if the work is done ; if not to 
the next succeeding Board. 

OLD BELL TO BE SOLD AND NEW ONE PURCHASED. 

"Ordered that said Managers endeavor to sell the old 
bell at the best price they can, and also purchase a new 
one at their discretion. 

"Ordered that the Managers call on the County Col- 
lector for cash to carry on the said work, and to purchase 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 119 

the Bell, and their receipts shall be his discharge for the 
same. 

"Ordered that the County Collector pay unto Wil- 
liam Hugg the sum of 13 shillings and four pence for 
drink for the persons who helped put out the fire at the 
Court House." 

On October 3d, 1769, Isaac Mickle reported the cost 
of repairs to the Court House to be 125 pounds, 10 shill- 
ings and 1 1 pence, which was ordered settled. 

JUSTICES, FREEHOLDERS, COLLECTORS, CLERKS. 

From 1740 to 1770, these persons served as Justices 
and Freeholders : 

Justices — James Hinchman, Isaac Jennings, John 
Kaighn, Joseph Kaighn, Thomas Coles, Thomas Wilkins, 
Japhet Leeds, Simeon Ellis, John Ladd, Michael Fisher, 
Alexander Randall, Samuel Clement, Alexander Morgan, 
Thomas Denny, Joseph Harrison, Edward Doughty, 
Robert F. Price, Henry Wood, John Hinchman, James 
Somers, Samuel Harrison, Samuel Spicer. 

Freeholders — Alexander Morgan, William Ellis, 
Ebenezer Hopkins, Robert Stephens, William Harrison, 
John Mickle, John Hinchman, John Tomlinson, John 
Wood, George Ward, Jr., Alexander Randall, William 
Wilkins, Richard Risley, Edward Doughty, Richard Mat- 
lack, Timothy Matlack, James McCullough, Allen Mor- 
gan, Robert Smith, Daniel Lake, Samuel Harrison, Wil- 
liam Hugg, Samuel McCullough, James Cooper, Samuel 
Shivers, Aaron Aaronson, Samuel Clement, Jacob Albert- 
son, John Burrough, Isaac Smith, Edward Richardson, 
William Wood, Joseph Ellis, James Whitall, William 
Mickle, John Thorn, James Lord, Robert Gerrard, Sam- 
uel Coles, David Cooper, Henry Roe, Francis Batten, 
John Hillman, James Talman, John Sparks, John Chew, 
Thomas Wilkins, Jacob Couzens, Thomas Cheesman, 
Isaac Kay, Robert Zane, Isaac Albertson, William Ger- 



120 Notes on Ou> Gloucester County. 

rard, John Brown, Joshua Lord, Jr., Archibald Mickle, 
John Gill, Jacob Clement, Matthew Gill, Samuel Harri- 
son, Jr., Isaac Mickle, George Flanningham, Isaac Cooper, 
Joseph Johnson, John Hopkins, Joshua Lord, Jr., Henry 
Wood, William Davis, Gideon Scull, Joseph Cooper, 
Josiah Albertson, David Branson, Jacob Spicer, Abraham 
Chattin, John Hider, Thomas Bate, Nathaniel Lippincott, 
John Brick, Archibald Moffett, Frederick Steelman, John 
Somers, David Hurley Solomon Lippincott, Peter Chees- 
man, Benjamin Lodge, Joseph Hillman, Thomas Clark, 
^Samuel Hewes, Thomas Wood. 

During this period, also, the following persons served 
as Clerks of the Board and County Collectors of the 
County : 

County Collectors — Joseph Cooper, Ebenezer Hop- 
kins, David Cooper and Samuel Clement, Jr. 

Clerks — Samuel Spicer, Alexander Randall, William 
Wood, Samuel Harrison, Jr., David Cooper, Joseph Har- 
rison, James Whitall, Samuel Clement, Jr., Joseph Hugg, 
Isaac Mickle, James Hinchman, Joseph Kaighn. 

From the year 1725 forward, there seem to be 
many references to the business of the Commissioners of 
the Loan Office, but as the writer does not understand 
fully these proceedings, no further reference thereto will 
be made in these notes. 

Frequent reference is made to inquests and burial of 
"dead corpses," and the payment of board of prisoners is 
referred to as "dieting" them. 

Murders and other crimes seem to have been fre- 
quent, and several executions of criminals are noted. 

Repairs to Court House and Gaol, and Great Timber 
Creek bridge, seem to have been an annual responsibility. 

The Board frequently failed to have a quorum for 
business at their meetings, and Freeholders from Egg 
Harbour Township were seldom present. However, ses- 
sions occasionally lasted two days. Two or three meet- 
ings per year, seem to have been the custom. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 121 

Under date of May 11, 1771, this entry appears: 

"There not being a sufficient number of Justices met 
to do business, no business was done." 

There are no further entries or proceedings for that 
year. 

At a special meeting held April 8, 1772, James Kin- 
sey was ordered paid the sum of four pounds, sixteen 
shillings, for prosecuting Peter Mantle to conviction for 
the murder of Elizabeth Lippincott. 

"James Kinsey laid another bill of 30 shillings before 
the Board for prosecuting Darby Leary, but as it was at 
the Circuit Court, the Freeholders would not allow it." 

On May 13, 1772, James Bowman was ordered paid 
eight shillings and three pence for a Book to record the 
return of Roads. 

A new Bridge having been ordered to be built over 
Great Timber Creek, this minute appears at the meeting 
held May 12, 1773: 

"Joseph Hugg, Esq., engageth to keep a Ferry over 
Great Timber Creek, at or near the place of the present 
Bridge, to carry over passengers or travellers passing the 
road whilst the said Bridge is rebuilding; and the Board 
order him to take no more fee or rate than what is com- 
monly taken at Ancocas Lower Ferry, and that he give 
constant attendance to that business during the time the 
said Bridge is rebuilding." 

At a meeting held May 11, 1774, the cost of rebuild- 
ing Bridge was reported to be 202 pounds, one shilling 
and seven pence. 

Only one meeting was held in the year 1775, on May 
10th, but nothing of present day interest was transacted. 

DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

No quorum appearing in May, 1776, no business was 
transacted. No record of any other meetings held that 
year. 



122 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

This notation is attached in this minute : 

"N. B. — The present Government took place on the 
2d of July, 1776." 

Only one meeting was held May 10, 1777, for that 
year, and little business transacted. 

At a special meeting held August 3, 1778, this minute 
is made : 

"The Freeholders refusing to take the oaths to Gov- 
ernment, prevented proceeding to business." 

No other entry appears for that year. 

At a meeting held January 1, 1779, 1500 pounds was 
ordered raised for defraying the public expenses of the 
County. 

At a meeting held June 13th, 1780, Col. Joseph Ellis 
and Major Samuel Hugg, Freeholders from Gloucester 
Town, are described with military titles. 

At a meeting held August 7, 1781, a County Seal 
was ordered. 

At a meeting held February 5, 1782, this minute is 
recorded : 

"John Wilkins, Esq., County Collector, moved the 
Board for allowance of 882 pounds, 1 5 shillings, Continen- 
tal money, which he had received for County Taxes, 
which he had paid into the Treasury, and hath been re- 
turned to him as counterfeit. 

"Ordered that this Board do not make any allowance 
to the County Collector aforesaid, for any part of said 
882 pounds, 15 shillings. 

"Samuel Harker, Collector of Woolwich Township, 
moved the Board for allowance for ten three pound State 
bills, being counterfeit, which he had received in said 
Township for Tax, not knowing them to be such when 
he received them. 

"Ordered that this Board do not make any allowance 
to the said Samuel Harker for any part of said Counter- 
feit Money aforesaid." 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 123 

At the same meeting it was "Ordered that the Board 
do not allow the Crier of the Court to draw his fees out 
of the County's Money, by virtue of any order of Court 
whatsoever, or otherwise." 

Preceding the minutes of a meeting held March 23, 
1786, there appears a lead pencil memorandum made by 
John M. Saunders, which reads as follows : 

"Note. — The Court House and Jail at Gloucester 
must have been destroyed by fire, I think, sometime in 
the early part of the 3d Mo.. (March) 1786. 

J. M. S." 

At a special meeting held March 23, 1786, at the 
House of William Hugg, in the Town of Gloucester, the 
following named Justices and Freeholders were present: 

Justices — John Wilkins, Joseph Hugg, John Sparks, 
Robert Brown, Thomas Denny, John Griffith, Joseph 
Ellis, Samuel Kennard, Joshua Smith. 

Freeholders — Waterford, Joseph Champion, Thomas 
Thorn ; Newton, John E. Hopkins, John Gill ; Gloucester 
Town, Samuel Harrison, Samuel Hugg; Gloucester Tp., 
Isaac Tomlinson, John Hider; Deptford, James Wilkins, 
Joseph Reeves; Greenwich, John Haines, Elijah Cozens; 
Woolwich, John Kille, George Van Leer; Egg Harbor, 
Thomas Somers. 

PETITION TO LEGISLATURE TO PERMIT NEW COURT HOUSE 
TO BE ERECTED AT WOODBURY. 

The minutes of this meeting show action as follows : 
"The question whether the Court House and Gaol, 
lately consumed by fire, should be repaired, or whether a 
petition be sent to the Legislature for a law to be passed 
to enable the inhabitants to build a new Court House and 
Gaol. The vote being called there was a majority for 
having them built new. It was then agreed by the Board 
that a petition should be sent from said Board praying the 
Legislature to pass a law for the building of a Court 



124 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

House and Gaol, in such place in said County as a major- 
ity of the inhabitants thereof shall determine by a fair and 
impartial election. 

"Ordered, that a petition be drawn immediately, and 
signed by the Clerk, on behalf of the Board, which was 
done accordingly." 

At a meeting held at the House of William Hugg in 
Gloucester, May 10, 1786, the following action was taken: 

"Whereas, there was a minute made at the last meet- 
ing of the Board, by order of said Board, that a petition 
be sent to the Legislature, praying them to pass a law for 
the building of a Court House and Gaol, in such place in 
said County as a majority of the inhabitants thereof shall 
determine by a free and impartial election. Agreeable 
thereto a petition from the Board and signed by the Clerk 
was sent, but before it arrived, the House rose. And 
whereas, said petition is either lost or mislaid, as appears, 
the Board then resumed the consideration thereof, and 
the votes were called accordingly, a majority of which 
were for a new petition to be drawn and sent to the Legis- 
lature, agreeable to the said minute; therefore ordered 
that the Clerk of this Board draw a petition in manner 
and form aforesaid, and sign it on behalf of the Board, 
and cause it to be forwarded to the Legislature at their 
next sitting. 

At a meeting held August 3, 1786, James Brown, 
John Jessup and Samuel Hugg were chosen managers to 
agree with workmen, and purchase materials for the build- 
ing of the Gaol and Court House at Woodbury. 

SITE EOR COURT HOUSE AND JAIE SELECTED. 

At a special meeting held September 22, 1786, at the 
house of William Hugg, it was unanimously agreed to 
adjourn until the 29th of September, to meet at the house 
of Josiah Hillman, in Woodbury, to fix upon a Lot of 
Ground whereon to build the Court House and Gaol. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 125 

The Board met according to adjournment, and pro- 
ceeded to the choice of a lot for the use of a Court House 
and Gaol; when John Bispham offered a lot four rods 
front and fifteen rods back for the purpose aforesaid. 
The votes were then called, and the offer was unanimously 
accepted. 

"Ordered, that James Wilkins, John Wilkins and 
Joseph Reeves be a committee to see the Lot laid out and 
take Deed therefor. 

"Ordered, that the Jail be built the same size of Salem 
Jail, and the Court House to be 35 by 40 feet, and the 
Yard 100 feet in length." 

At a special meeting held December 6, 1786, 

"Ordered that the Managers chosen to superintend 
the building of the Court House and Gaol, do immediately 
take a Deed for the lot whereon said buildings are to 
stand, agreeable to the draft produced to this Board by 
John Wilkins. 

"Ordered, that said Managers do pay for said lot out 
of the public moneys in their hands, 50 pounds." 

1500 pounds was ordered raised by Tax for the build- 
ing of Court House and Gaol. 

At a meeting held December 2, 1787, the Managers 
of the Gaol and Court House made report that the Gaol 
was nearly finished, upon which the Board appointed John 
Wilkins, Joseph Ellis, Samuel Harrison and James Wil- 
kins, Freeholders, as a committee to take charge of the 
Gaol, and deliver it up to the High Sheriff of the County, 
as soon as it is fitting to hold prisoners. John Blackwood 
was then High Sheriff. 

The cost of the Court House and Gaol, as changed 
from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents, 
seems to have been $12,286.10, as shown by memorandum 
made in Minute Book by John M. Saunders. 

At a meeting held May 11, 1791, it was "Ordered 
that John Wilkins, Esq., take charge of the Deed where- 
on the Court House and Gaol are erected, and get it re- 



126 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

corded in the Secretary's Office at Burlington, and then 
to bring it down again and lodge it in the Clerk's Office of 
this County. 

John Jessup was ordered paid 30 pounds for a Bell 
and hanging same for Court House. 

At a meeting held May 9, 1792, it was ''Ordered that 
a Stove be purchased for the Court House, 2 dozen Wind- 
sor chairs, one table, 2 sets andirons, shovels and tongs, 
2 cords of hickory wood, glass put over the door, win- 
dows fitted with glass. The seats to be raised at the dis- 
cretion of the Managers. To erect Stocks, Whipping Post 
and Pillory, placed at the discretion of the Manager, and 
that John Jessup be Manager to carry the business into 
effect." 

NEW ROADS EAID OUT. 

"The Commissioners appointed by law to lay out 
a public road from Mount Holly to Joshua Cooper's 
Ferry, represent in writing to this Board that 200 pounds 
is necessary to complete said road." 

At a meeting held May 14, 1794, "Ordered that the 
sum of 150 pounds specie, more than the 50 pounds di- 
rected by law, be raised in this County for that purpose, 
and for the laying out and clearing the public road directed 
by said law to be laid out from Woodbury to Bridgeton, 
in Cumberland County; and that 35 pounds of the money 
now in the County Collector's hands be paid to the Com- 
missioners for laying out the Mount Holly road, (if their 
fees do amount to so much) and the remainder of said 
County money, after the paying the orders of this Board, 
to be paid to the Commissioners for laying out the Bridge- 
ton road, if said road shall be laid out." 

At a meeting held May 13, 1795, it was ordered 
that 500 pounds specie be raised by tax to lay out, open 
and improve the roads from Burlington and Mount Holly 
to Cooper's Ferry, and from Bridgeton and Roadstown 
to Woodbury. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 127 

At a meeting held May 10, 1797, Joshua Howell and 
Phineas Lord were appointed Commissioners to make an 
estimate of the expense necessary to purchase a Lot of 
Ground in the town of Woodbury, and for the building 
thereon of a house for the safe keeping of the Records of 
the County of Gloucester. 

At a meeting held May 10, 1797, this minute is re- 
corded : 

"Benjamin Whitall, Aaron Pancoast, Thomas Car- 
penter, Eli Elmer and Elnathan Davis, five of the Com- 
missioners for opening and improving certain Roads in 
the Counties of Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester and Bur- 
lington, in this State, under the seventh section of the act 
passed February 15, 1794, applied to this Board for the 
sum of Five Hundred Pounds, to be assessed, levied and 
collected, to enable them to fulfil for the purposes men- 
tioned in the said act. On the question whether the said 
sum of Five Hundred Pounds be raised for the purpose 
mentioned in the said application, it was determined in 
the negative." 

These notes conclude extracts from Book A of 
Minutes, and the following notes are condensed from the 
Minute Book marked B. 

BOOK B 

At the annual meeting held May 9, 1798, there is no 
record of the attendance of any Justices, but a full at- 
tendance of Freeholders only. 

COUNTY CEERK'S OFEICE. 

A plan for the erection of a Clerk's Office was pre- 
sented by John E. Hopkins, being 25 feet 4 inches by 20 
feet, arched cellar under the whole, door posts and 
window frames stone, doors and window shutters iron, 
and the roof to be covered with copper, which plan was 
approved. This Office afterwards became the Surrogate's 
Office, and when it was vacated as such when the present 



128 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Court House was completed, the Farmers and Mechanics 
National Bank occupied it when first organized for several 
months. It was finally demolished for the purpose of 
opening Newton Avenue. 

ROOM IN COURT HOUSE USED AS A LIBRARY. 

Joshua L. Howell and James M. Whitall, two of the 
Directors of the Union Library Company, of Woodbury, 
requested the liberty of putting the books, &c, of said 
Company, in one of the front chambers of the Court 
House, which request was granted on trial. 

At a meeting held January 8, 1799, 1000 pounds 
was ordered paid John E. Hopkins and Phineas Lord 
on account of building the Clerk's Office. At this meet- 
ing a Deed was presented from Isaac Wilkins and Rachel, 
his wife, for the purchase of a lot on which the Clerk's 
Office was erected. 

At this meeting also it was ordered that a Wrought 
Iron Chest be purchased for the County Collector, the 
more safely to keep the money of the County. 

The Commissioners for opening the road from 
Woodbury to Bridgeton and Roadstown, requested that 
the County Collector should pay them 177 pounds 3 shil- 
lings 3 pence for the use of said road, it being the balance 
of 500 pounds which was ordered for that purpose, which 
was ordered paid by the County Collector. 

At a meeting held May 8, 1799, this minute is re- 
corded : 

RACCOON CREEK BRIDGE. 

"John Pisant, on behalf of the proprietors of the 
Lower Bridge over Raccoon Creek, reported to this Board 
that the said proprietors do now relinquish all their claim 
to said Bridge, and request that this Board provide for 
the repairing and supporting said Bridge, at the expense 
of this County. On motion, whether said Bridge be main- 
tained by the County, it was carried in the affirmative." 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 129 

This is the first record having reference to construction 
and repair of Bridges other than Great Timber Creek 
Bridge before above date. At the same meeting the 
question of building a Bridge over the South Branch of 
Great Timber Creek, at or near Limber Bridge, was pre- 
sented, and James Hopkins, Jacob Stokes and Jeremiah 
Wood were appointed a committee thereon. This Com- 
mittee reported in favor of making application to the 
Legislature for the passage of a law authorizing the con- 
struction thereof. 

At a meeting held December 12, 1799, report was 
made that such a law had been passed. It was there- 
fore ordered that John Wilkins, John B. Morgan, Jacob 
Stokes, Jeremiah Wood and Samuel P. Maul be appointed 
a Committee to proceed with its construction. Other 
references are made to the building and repairs of 
Bridges over Woodbury Creek, on public highway ; Car- 
penter's Landing Bridge, Raccoon Bridge at Swedes- 
boro, lower Bridge over Mantua Creek, over Garrard's 
Dam, and Penshawkin Creek, &c, in 1799 and 1800. 

At the same meeting this minute is recorded : 



A POOR HOUSE CONSIDERED. 

"A motion was made to this Board, of the propriety 
of procuring a Poor House in the County of Gloucester, 
the more conveniently to enable all poor persons who are, 
or may be, a public charge to said County, to be provided 
for by said County, which was carried in the affirmative ; 
and ordered that Samuel Cooper, James Hopkins and 
James Stratton be a Committee to. make inquiry about 
the premises and report to this Board at their next meet- 
ing." 

CONTRIBUTION FOR EIRE ENGINE. 

At same meeting, "Franklin Davenport, Esq., on be- 
half of the Woodbury Fire Company, requested of this 
Board their assistance, in order to enable the said Com- 



130 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

pany to purchase Fire Engine and other apparatus for 
the use of said Company ; therefore ordered, that the sum 
of $200 be paid by the County Collector to the Treasurer 
of said Company, on or before the expiration of one 
year." 

At this time entries changed from use of words 
Pounds, Shillings and Pence, to Dollars and Cents. 

At an adjourned meeting held December 12, 1800, 
this minute is recorded : 

POOR HOUSE EARM PURCHASED. 

"The Committee, who were appointed by this Board, 
at their last meeting, to purchase a suitable place for build- 
ing a Poor House, &c, for said County, now reports that 
they have purchased of Michael C. Fisher, in the Town- 
ship of Deptford, a Plantation containing 125 acres of 
land, at ten pounds per acre, amounting to $3,333-33, 
which was unanimously agreed to. Said Committee also 
produced a Deed for said land, which was duly executed ; 
and it is further ordered, that the Director of said Board 
be authorized to receive said Deed, when acknowledged, 
and have the same recorded, and to execute a Bond to the 
said Michael C. Fisher, for the purchase money, agreeably 
to contract." The Committee consisted of Samuel Coop- 
er, James Hurley, John Hider, Samuel W. Harrison, 
Amos Cooper, William Ford, James Stratton, John Col- 
lins, Richard Westcott and Elias Smith, Jr. This Com- 
mittee produced a plan of a House to be built 75 by 35 
feet, two stories high, and a cellar under the whole, to be 
built with stone, which was agreed to, and Amos Cooper, 
John Brick and John Hider were appointed Commission- 
ers to superintend the building thereof, at $1.50 per day, 
if service in County, or $2.00 out of the County. 

justices, freeholders, collectors and clerks. 

From 1770 to 1800 these persons served as Justices 
and Freeholders : 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 131 

Justices — Michael Fisher, John Hinchman, Samuel 
Spicer, Isaac Kay, James Bowman, Thomas Clark, George 
Van Leer, Samuel Blackwood, James Hinchman, James 
Somers, Samuel Risley, Robert Wood, Israel Shreve, 
Thomas Denny, John Sparks, Joseph Hugg, Robert 
Brown, Bodo Otto, John Wilkins, Isaac Tomlinson, 
Thomas Hastings, Samuel Kinnard, John Cooper, John 
Griffith, John Little, William Cozens, Joseph Ellis, Joshua 
Smith, Jeffrey Clark, Robert Morris, Samuel Elwell, 
Thomas Champion, Samuel Risley, Micajah Smith, EHas 
Smith, Benjamin Morgan, David Clark, William Tatem, 
Joseph Blackwood, Thomas Carpenter, James Strattcn, 
Abraham Inskeep, Joseph Champion, William Zane, 
Thomas Heston, James Sloan, John Brick. 

Freeholders — Nathaniel Lippincott, Joshua Stokes, 
David Branson, Isaac Mickle, Joseph Ellis, John Mickle, 
Peter Cheesman, Jacob Jennings, David Cooper, Joshua 
Lord, David Brown, Jacob Spicer, Matthew Gill, William 
Cozens, John Gill, Joseph Hillman, Joshua Cozens, Jos- 
hua Fisher, Constantine Wilkins, Joseph Hugg, James 
Whitall, John Glover, Thomas West, Frederick Steelman, 
John E. Hopkins, Samuel Harrison, John Brick, Benja- 
min Pittfield, Isaac Jones, David Davis, Thomas Thorn, 
Jacob Stokes, Joseph Low, Charles Fisher, John Kille, 
Samuel Wilson, Robert Ford Price, Thomas Taber, 
Joseph Collins, John Griffith, John Little, Samuel Hugg, 
John Hider, John Hedger, James Wilkins, Randal Mor- 
gan, Isaac Thompson, Felix Fisher, Henry Shute, John 
Middleton, Isaac Mickle, Elijah Clark, Richard Chees- 
man, John Ladd Howell, Daniel Southerland, John West, 
John Steelman, Samuel Burrough, Jacob Jennings, Laz- 
arus Price, William Zane, Joseph Hillman, Joshua How- 
ell, John Winner, James Hopkins, Joseph Bolton, Jere- 
miah Higbee, Jonathan Steelman, William Smith, Amos 
Ireland, Enoch Allen, Thomas Somers, Edmund Brewer, 
John B. Morgan, John Steelman, John Collins, Richard 
Westcott, Daniel Steelman, James Hurley, Amos Cooper, 



132 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

William Ford, Enoch Leeds, Joseph Cooper, Joseph Col- 
lins, Samuel Harrison, Jacob Albertson, James Wilkins, 
Arthur Reeves, David Paul, Isaac Somers, Nehemiah 
Steelman, Richard Borden, Ephraim Tomlinson, James 
Hinchman, Archibald Moffett, Elijah Cozens, William 
Todd, Elijah Clark, David Davis, Thomas Thorn, Joseph 
Champion, Samuel Hugg, John Jessup, Joseph Reeves, 
John Haines, George Van Leer, Thomas Somers, David 
Sayres, David Clark, Edmund Cordery, Edward Gibbs, 
John Stevens, Samuel French, William White, Joshua 
Leeds, Jeremiah Higbee, Joseph Burrough, Marmaduke 
Cooper, William Hugg, Benjamin Whitall, James Scull, 
Felix Leeds, Joseph Johnson, George Sparks, Samuel 
Cozens, Samuel Tonkin, Samuel Stokes, Samuel Cooper, 
James Sloan, Jonathan Harker, Frederick Steelman, Rich- 
ard Higbee, John Smith, Isaac Stephens, Edmund Ireland, 
Charles French, Joseph Mickle, Samuel P. Paul, Joseph 
Dalher, Samuel W. Harrison, John Wood, Phineas Lord, 
Enoch Allen, Jeremiah Wood. 

During this period also, these persons served as 
Clerks of the Board, and County Collectors of the County : 

County Collectors — Samuel Clement, Jr., John Wil- 
kins and Joel Westcott. 

Clerks — Samuel Harrison, Samuel Spicer, Joseph 
Hugg, John Griffith, Elijah Cozens, William White, John 
Blackwood, John Wilkins, Thomas Wilkins, James Strat- 
ton, Joseph Cooper, Jacob Jennings, Samuel W. Harrison, 
Benjamin Rulon. 

The Gloucester County Board of Freeholders records 
continue down to the present time but it has not been 
thought desirable to crowd this book with extracts later 
than the year 1800, although much of interest appears 
after that date. 



James B. Cooper, A Hero of Two Wars* 

Soldier in Revolutionary War; Sailor in War of 1812 

James B. Cooper, or plain James Cooper as his name 
appears on the muster roll of the first troop, Lee's Legion, 
Continental Troops, Revolutionary War, was born at 
Cooper's Point, Camden, N. J., in 1761, and enlisted Feb- 
ruary 1, 1779, for three years. 

In the archives of the Bureau of Pensions, it is re- 
corded that "James B. Cooper enlisted in the Continental 
Line, and served to the end of the Revolutionary War, at 
which period he was a private in James Armstrong's First 
Troop of Colonel Lee's Partisans, Legion of Light 
Dragoons." 

Lee's Legion was originally composed of Virginians, 
but while it was serving in the vicinity of Camden and 
Haddonfield, one hundred Jerseymen were enlisted and 
mustered into the Legion, two of whom, James B. 
Cooper and John Mapes, died in Haddonfield. 

The commander of this Partisan Legion was Henry 
Lee, of Virginia. He entered the service in 1776, at the 
command of a company of Virginia volunteers, and had 
distinguished himself in scouting parties, and harrassing 
the enemy's pickets. His adventurous exploits soon won 
for him the popular appellation of "Light Horse Harry." 

Environment had much to do with James Cooper's 
enlistment. Born a Friend, reared under Friends' in- 
fluence, opposed to war and bloodshed, he was subject to 
many temptations to forego those principles of peace 
which had been instilled into him from early childhood. 

Living at Cooper's Point, in Camden, N. J., directly 

opposite Philadelphia, where American or British soldiers 

were constantly to be seen, his father's house occupied 

either by the Continental or British forces all the earlier 

* By Wallace McGeorge, M. D. 



134 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

years of the Revolution, it is no wonder that despite the 
commands of his father and the earnest and loving solici- 
tations of his mother, he forsook the principles of Friends, 
choosing rather to serve his country as a soldier than to 
continue neutral and passive during the struggle for free- 
dom. Although only a stripling in his eighteenth year, 
he ran away from home, enlisted and became a Dragoon. 

Early in the summer, Lee's Legion was ordered to 
the northern part of this State and the river counties in 
New York, and in July, 1779, as a volunteer, he took part 
in the storming and capture of Stony Point, by Mad An- 
thony Wayne. 

General Wayne was the officer picked out by Wash- 
ington for this daring work, and he readily assented. It 
is a popular tradition that when Washington proposed to 
Wayne the storming of Stony Point, the reply was : 
"General, I'll storm hell, if you will only plan it." To 
which Washington is said to have replied, "Suppose you 
try Stony Point first." 

One of the engagements in our State in which Lee's 
Legion was victorious was the capture of Paulus Hook, 
in what is now Jersey City. Major Lee in his scoutings 
had discovered that the British post at Paulus Hook, im- 
mediately opposite New York, was very negligently 
guarded. Paulus Hook at that time was a long, low point 
of the Jersey shore stretching into the Hudson, and con- 
nected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus. A fort had 
been erected on it, and it was garrisoned with five hun- 
dred men under Major Sutherland. It was a strong posi- 
tion. A creek fordable only in two places rendered the 
Hook difficult of access. Lee had discovered these fea- 
tures, and he had proposed to Washington the daring 
plan of surprising the fort at night. The commander-in- 
chief was pleased with the project and consented to it, 
stipulating that Lee was to "surprise the post, bring off 
the garrison immediately and effect a retreat." 

On August 18, 1779, Lee set out with three hundred 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 135 

of Lord Stirling's division and a troop of dismounted 
dragoons. Between two and three o'clock, on the morn- 
ing of August 19, Lee arrived at the creek. It hap- 
pened fortunately that the British commanders had the 
day before dispatched a foraging party to a part of the 
country called the English Neighborhood, and as Lee 
and his men approached they were mistaken by the sen- 
tinel for this party on its return. The darkness of the 
night favored the mistake, and our troops passed the 
creek and ditch, entered the works unmolested and had 
made themselves masters of the post before the garrison 
was well roused from sleep. Major Sutherland and 
about sixty Hessians threw themselves into a, small block 
house on the left of the fort and opened an irregular 
fire. To attempt to dislodge them would have cost too 
much time. Alarm guns from ships in the harbor, and 
the forts at New York, threatened speedy reinforcements 
to the enemy. Having captured one hundred and fifty- 
nine prisoners, Lee returned without trying to destroy 
either the barracks or artillery. He had achieved his 
object, a coup-de-main of signal audacity. Few of the 
enemy were slain for there was but little fighting and no 
massacre. His own loss was two men killed and three 
wounded. James Cooper was one of the dismounted 
dragoons. A beautiful monument in Jersey City marks 
the spot where this struggle occurred. 

In 1 78 1 General Washington removed General Gates 
from the command of the Southern army, and appointed 
General Nathaniel Greene in his place. "Light Horse 
Harry" with his legion were transferred from the North- 
ern army and sent south to aid Greene in his arduous task 
and for the rest of the war the Legion was engaged in 
the wresting of the Southern States from the British 
army. Private Cooper took part in the battles of Guil- 
ford Court House and Eutaw Springs. 

In the battle of Eutaw Springs, which was fought on 
September 8, 1781, Lee's Legion was assigned to the duty 



136 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

of covering the right flank, and Armstrong's troops, in 
which Cooper served, led the advance. 

As the English retreated next day after destroying 
many of their stores the victory was considered to be 
ours. The American loss was very heavy in this pro- 
longed battle and this may have been the place to which 
Captain Cooper referred when he told his friend John 
Redfield, of Gloucester, that he stood in the battle when 
every third man was killed. 

During the entire Revolutionary War, Congress only 
voted six gold medals for bravery in action, and three 
of those were to General Wayne, for his storming of 
Stony Point; to Light Horse Harry for his surprise of 
Paulus Hook, and to General Greene for his victory at 
Eutaw Springs, and in each of these three engagements 
Private Cooper was one of the men who helped to win. 
Which only proves the statement that when a Quaker 
does fight, he fights well. What other private or officer 
had a better record in the entire war? 

Prowell's History of Camden County says Cooper 
assisted in the storming of Forts Mott, Granby and Wat- 
son, all of which surrendered to Light Horse Harry. 
Private Cooper was once sent with dispatches to General 
Washington, and on another occasion with a flag of truce 
to the British commander, showing the esteem in which he 
was held by his leader. 

After the Revolutionary War was over James B. 
Cooper adopted a seafaring life, and rose to the command 
of some fine ships sailing from Philadelphia. 

In 1805 he organized a company of cavalry from 
the young men of Haddonfield and Woodbury, and was 
elected its captain. It was from this circumstance that 
Cooper got his title of Captain. 

In the War of 181 2 Cooper accepted the position 
of sailing master in the navy, and was in charge of the 
gun boats on the New Jersey coast, to guard against the 
depredations of the British cruisers. This was a danger- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 137 

ous task, for his vessel was inferior in guns, and it was 
his duty' when he discovered the foe, by his superiority 
in sailing, to notify the American frigates so they could 
meet the enemy. 

Through the Bureau of Navigation at Washington, 
I have been enabled to secure the following data as to 
Commander Cooper's services in the United States Navy : 

181 2, July 9. Warranted a sailing master in the Navy 
this date. Appointed from New Jer- 
sey. 

1815, May 26. Promoted to Acting Lieutenant. 

181 6, Aug. 9. Ordered to report to Commodore Mur- 

ray for duty. 

1822, Jan. 10. Ordered to Philadelphia on duty. 

1822, April 22. Promoted to Lieutenant from this date, 
and ordered to report for duty at Bal- 
timore. 

1832, July 5. Ordered to the Navy Yard, at New 
York. 

1832, Nov. 5. Detached from the Navy Yard, New 
York, and granted two months' leave 
of absence. 

1834, May 2^. Appointed to the Naval Asylum, Phila- 
delphia. 

1838, Aug. 13. Granted three-months' leave, which was 
renewed Nov. 16, 1838; Feb. 22, 
1839; May, 1839. 

1 839- 1 840- 1 84 1. He was granted six months' leave of ab- 
sence continuously till September 8, 
1 841, when he was promoted to Com- 
mander from this date. 

1854, Feb. 5. Died this day at Haddonfield, New Jer- 
sey. 

On July 5, 1828, nearly fifty years after his enlist- 
ment in the Continental army, a pension was allowed him. 
After his retirement from the command of the Naval 
9 



138 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Asylum at Philadelphia, he returned to his home in Had- 
donfield, where he spent the remainder of his days. 

Captain James B. Cooper was the last survivor of 
Lee's Legion, dying seventy-five years and four days after 
he was mustered into the service of his country — in his 
ninety-third year. 

In his death, as in his life, he was unfortunately the 
cause of the animadversion of Friends. Having a son 
who was an Admiral in the Navy, and on account of his 
military and naval service in two wars, he was buried 
with military honors. Soldiers and sailors took part, the 
Naval Reserves coming from Philadelphia for this pur- 
pose. Here, again, there was a conflict between Church 
and State, or between principles and affection. The sol- 
diers and sailors followed his remains on foot to the 
Friends' Meeting House Burying Ground, in Haddon- 
field, and fired a salute over his grave, to the horror of 
many Friends. What with flags flying and guns firing, 
it was a sorry day for many rigid orthodox Quakers. 
Even in his family there was a divided feeling. The 
widow, proud of her departed hero, acquiesced in the de- 
sire of his military and naval friends, and followed his re- 
mains to the grave in this military parade, while the 
widow's sister was so horrified at this vain pomp that 
she stayed at home, and would not even look upon this 
wicked show. Many young Friends and the world's peo- 
ple enjoyed this unusual spectacle as a mark of respect 
to this grand old man, and a grand-daughter, who was 
then only a little child, said she liked to see the soldiers 
and the flags, and thought it was just the thing. No stone 
marks the grave of this grand old man. 



General Franklin Davenport* 

Franklin Davenport was born in Philadelphia, but 
spent his boyhood in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and 
during- the Revolutionary War enlisted in Captain Sam- 
uel Hugg's company of artillery, which was attached to 
Colonel Newcomb's brigade. 

His company took part in the defence of Fort Mifflin 
when it was besieged by the British Army and Navy. 

We cannot say he was "one of the men behind the 
guns" because in those days cannon were not breech load- 
ing, and the gunner had to stand in front to load his gun, 
and expose himself to the fire of sharpshooters. All 
through that bloody siege he passed unharmed, and before 
the close of the war he rose to be captain of a company 
of artillery. 

After the war he settled in Woodbury, and is said to 
be the first lawyer who lived and practiced there. When 
the office of Surrogate was created, Governor William 
Livingston appointed him Surrogate for Gloucester 
County and he took the oath of office before Judge John 
Wilkins, February 15, 1785, practicing law all the time 
he was Surrogate. He was among the original trustees 
of Woodbury Academy, which was erected in 1791, and 
also among the original members of the Woodbury 
Library Company, instituted in 1794. 

Franklin Davenport maintained his connection with 
the State militia, and on Tuesday, October 21, 1794, under 
orders from Governor Richard Howell, he marched as 
Lieutenant Colonel and acting Colonel with his regiment 
from Trenton to Pittsburg, Pa., and assisted in putting 
down the whiskey rebellion. This was the first armed re- 
sistance to the Federal authorities and President George 
Washington called out fifteen thousand militia from Penn- 
* By Wallace McGeorge, M. D. 



140 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

sylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to suppress 
this armed opposition to the collection of a revenue tax on 
whiskey. History tells us that Governor Howell went 
with the New Jersey troops and was the first Governor 
who served as Commander-in-Chief of the State militia, 
while in actual service. He was appointed by General Lee 
to command the right wing of the army, and Colonel 
Franklin Davenport was commandant of the First New 
Jersey Regiment. 

While he was away with his regiment the December 
term of court was held and the following unique notice 
appears in the records of the Surrogate's Office. 

December Term, 1794. 

Present. 

No Business. 

The Surrogate of the County of Gloucester (Frank- 
lin Davenport) having marched from Trenton, New Jer- 
sey, through Pennsylvania, to> Pittsburg, as Colonel Com- 
mandant of a detachment of New Jersey militia, consist- 
ing of seven hundred and twenty-four, rank and file, with 
a double proportion of field and staff officers, by order 
of the President of the United States, George Washing- 
ton, to assist in quelling an insurrection raised by the 
Patriots of the day. 

Fkn. Davenport, 

January, 1795. 

Note. — I left Woodbury the 18th September, 1794, 
and returned home the last of December following. 

F. Davenport. 

A vacancy occurring in the United States Senate on 
December 5, 1798, he was appointed United States Sena- 
tor from New Jersey by Governor Richard Howell the 
same day, and served until February 14, 1799, when the 
Legislature elected James Schureman to fill the unexpired 
term. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 141 

In the regular election held in November, 1798, he 
was elected to the Sixth Congress for this Congressional 
district, serving from March 4, 1799, to March 4, 1801. 

At the organization of the Gloucester County Bible 
Society in the Academy, at Woodbury, in April, 18 16, he 
was elected Vice-President and one of its Board of Mana- 
gers and continued in these positions until 1827, when 
he was elected President, and he was re-elected every year 
thereafter till his death. 

He was prominent in public affairs in his home vil- 
lage of Woodbury, was one of the Trustees of the Acad- 
emy in Woodbury in 1820 and the minutes of the 
Woodbury Presbyterian Church state : 

"At a meeting of the Trustees of the Presbyterian 
Church at Woodbury, at the Academy, on the nineteenth 
day of February, 1820, a deed was presented to them from 
the Board of Trustees of the Woodbury Academy, signed 
by Franklin Davenport, their President, by which they 
convey and assure to the Trustees of the Presbyterian 
Church, and their successors in office, the free use and en- 
joyment for the celebration of Divine Worship, of the 
lower room of the lower story of the Woodbury Academy, 
so long as the present building shall stand, and also the 
use of the bell of the said Academy." 

Woodbury Academy was erected on Broad Street 
opposite where the Presbyterian Church stands and at that 
time was the only edifice at all suitable for religious wor- 
ship. 

At the public auction of pews on March 13th, 1820, 
Franklin Davenport bid $40 for Pew No. 10, the highest 
price bid at this sale, and at a meeting of the Presbyterian 
congregation, held August 31, 1822, for the purpose of 
calling a minister, Franklin Davenport was present and 
assisted in the call. But this old soldier, when he found 
that his sister Deborah had left the family silver service 
to the Presbyterian Church for a communion set without 
getting his consent, obstinately refused to concur and 



142 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

though the session appointed two of his old friends, Dr. 
B. P. Howell and Dr. Joseph Fithian, to visit him and 
reason with him, they were unsuccessful, Dr. Howell 
subsequently reporting that he would not give up the 
silver, and he probably never did. 

His home and office were in a frame building that 
stood just south of Paul's Hotel, and were torn down by 
Jos. Paul, when he built the brick building south of that 
hostelry. Franklin Davenport and wife and his sister 
Deborah lived there until their decease. 

He was one of the Judges of the Court of Common 
pleas in the county for many years, and his name will be 
found among those present at each term, in the court 
records. The last entry of his name in the proceedings of 
the Court of Common Pleas, also in the Orphans' Court, 
is in the June term, 1832. 

He died July 2.7, 1832, and is probably buried in the 
Presbyterian Burying Grounds in North Woodbury, but 
his grave is unmarked and cannot certainly be found. 

General Franklin Davenport, as he was always 
called after 1794, served his state and country in his day 
and generation, dying in the harness and yet no one can 
tell where his remains were placed at rest. An armchair 
,that he used to sit in is now owned by Rev. Edward 
Dillon, of Woodbury, and this is all that I can find that 
once belonged to this gallant soldier and statesman. 



Colonel Thomas Heston* 

Colonel Thomas Heston, an officer of the War of the 
Revolution, whose remains are interred in the burial 
grounds of Trinity Church, Swedesboro, N. J., was born 
in Hestonville, Penna., in 1753. He entered the army in 
1776 as First Lieut. 8th Co'., 3rd Battalion, Philadelphia 
troops (Col. Jacob Morgan's regiment). 

He was with Washington when he crossed the Dela- 
ware the following December and took part in the battle 
of Trenton and eventually reached the rank of Colonel. 

His brother Edward also served during the War of 
Independence and attained the same rank. 

At the close of the war, Edward returned to Phila- 
delphia and was a member of the State Senate for eight 
years and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the 
City of Philadelphia for four years. He died in 1824. 

The Heston family came from the village of Heston, 
Middlesex County, England, in 1684. The immigrant 
ancestor was Zebulon Heston. He settled in what is now 
a part of Philadelphia known as Hestonville. 

Col. Thomas Heston married Hannah Clayton in 
1775, and at the close of the War of Independence, he and 
Thomas Carpenter, of Philadelphia, a relative who had 
also served during the war, purchased the glass works at 
Glassboro, N. J., which had not been operated for some 
years because of the war, and began the manufacture of 
glassware. 

This partnership was continued until Colonel Hes- 
ton's death, which occurred in 1802. The Colonel was in 
charge of the works and Thomas Carpenter, who resided 
at Carpenter's Landing (now Mantua), attended to the 
shipping of the manufactured wares to Philadelphia by 
* By Thos. W. Synnott. 



144 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

vessel and received supplies for the factory which were 
forwarded to Glassboro by teams. 

Brig. Gen'l Louis Henry Carpenter, U. S. A., who 
died in Philadelphia in 191 6, was born in Glassboro in 
1839, and was a grandson of Thomas Carpenter. 

The works at Glassboro were long known as "Hes- 
ton's Glass Works." After Colonel Heston's death, in 
1802, the property changed hands a number of times, and 
in 1835 Thomas H. Whitney, a grandson of Colonel 
Thomas Heston, acquired an interest in the plant and later 
it was operated by John P. Whitney and Thomas W. 
Synnott, great-grandsons of Colonel Heston under the 
firm name of Whitney Brothers. 

Colonel Heston was a member of the First City 
Troop of Philadelphia and the Gloucester County Fox 
Hunting Club, organizations that furnished many officers 
during the war for independence. 

The following account of Colonel Heston's funeral 
appeared in a Philadelphia paper published at the time. 

"New Jersey, Gloucester Co., 

"Died on Wednesday, October 13, 1802, Colonel 
Thomas Heston, at his country seat in Glassborough, N. 
J., after a short illness, which he bore with Christian forti- 
tude and resignation. 

"In the death of this excellent man the army has lost 
a brave soldier, society a valuable monument, religion and 
liberty deprived a sincere and strong support, the widow 
of an affectionate companion, his children a pious and ten- 
der father. 

"Captain Brown's Infantry and Captain Pissant's 
Cavalry, with officers, accompanied the friends and re- 
mains to Trinity Church, Swedesborough, N. J., in pro- 
cession, Captain Pissant's troop of horse, order and arms 
reversed. 

"Trumpeter and trumpet in mourning. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 145 

"Captain Robert Brown's company of Light Infan- 
try, order and arms reversed. 

"Drums and Fifes in mourning. 

"Major of Brigade. 

"Clergymen and physicians. 

"Bier, supported by officers and mourning citizens. 

"When procession arrived at Church ranks opened 
and faced inward, through which the bier and procession 
passed. 

"After service was read, a very touching discourse 
was delivered by Reverend (Henry) John Croes, from 
Psalm 23-4. 'Though I walk through the valley and 
shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy 
rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' 

"When the troops formed again and moved to the 
grave, where they deposited the remains of their much 
esteemed officer and friend, after which three rounds of 
musketry were discharged by Captain Brown's company. 

"The elegant and effective appearance of the troops 
with the most affectionate and respectful conduct of the 
officers on this solemn occasion demands our praise." 




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The Indian King * 

The Indian King is situated on the old King's 
Highway, in the center of the historic town of Haddon- 
field, N. J. It was built in 1750, by Matthias Aspden, 
a native of England, who became a merchant and ship- 
owner in Philadelphia, and lived for many years in that 
city and in Haddonfield. 

On the site of the building was born, in 1730, 
Colonel Timothy Matlack, of the Revolutionary Army, 
Free Quaker, at one period Commissary General of the 
Army, and after the war, Master of the Rolls of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The Indian King was a famous village inn from 
1750 until Haddonfield had become a prohibition town 
about 1880, and was the very centre of the village life. 
Here in the early days the militia were mustered, the 
local elections were held, and the leading men of the 
village gathered to discuss national or local affairs. Here 
the stage-coaches for Egg Harbor and other distant 
points stopped for refreshments. 

In the Revolutionary War period the First As- 
sembly of the State of New Jersey, driven from Trenton 
and Princeton by the movements of the armies, held ses- 
sions in the Indian King from January 29th, 1777, to 
March 18th, 1777; from May 7th, 1777, to June 7th, 
1777, and from September 3rd, 1777, to October nth, 
1777. 

In this building, in May, 1777, the Committee which 
had been appointed by the Assembly to prepare a State 
Seal, made its report and the Great Seal of the State of 
New Jersey was formally adopted. 

Therein, by an Act of Assembly dated March 15th, 
1777, the Council of Safety of New Jersey was created. 
* By James L,. Pennypacker. 



148 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

This body began its meetings in this building March 18th, 
1777. It met therein again from May 10th to June 9th, 
and again on September 12th, and on September 22nd. 

Therein, on September 20th, 1777, was passed an 
Act to the effect that "From and after the Publication of 
this Act all Commissions and Writs which by the Con- 
stitution are required to run in the name of the Colony 
shall run in the name of the State of New Jersey." This 
was the official recognition by the Assembly of the 
colony's independence and the formal christening of the 
State of New Jersey. 

During the Revolutionary War period the Inn was 
owned by Hugh Creighton. He was the uncle of Dorothy 
Todd (nee Payne) who at that time, having broken away 
from her maiden life, was a gay young widow in Phila- 
delphia. She often visited her uncle in Haddonfield, and 
John Clement, then a young man, used, in his old age, 
to tell his son, the late John Clement, President of the 
Historical Society of New Jersey, tales of the merry 
dances at which Dolly Todd was hostess, and of the 
sleighing parties with the village beaux in which she par- 
ticipated. Soon she married and became "Dolly" Madi- 
son, and has come down to us through many a legend as 
the most charming mistress that ever graced the official 
social life in Washington. 

There are interesting military letters dated at 
Haddonfield written by Wayne, Greene, Lafayette, 
Pulaski, Weddon, Varnum, Ogden, Joseph Ellis and 
other officers of the American Army, and there are 
orders, letters and journals of Sir Henry Clinton, Corn- 
wallis, Major Andre and others of the British Army. No 
doubt some of these were written in the Indian King, 
and no doubt all of these men trod its oaken floors. 

During its long time of hospitality the old Inn stood 
under a number of signs and names. The earliest known 
and probably the original name, "The Indian King," ap- 
pears in a newspaper advertisement in 1764. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 149 

Recognizing the interest and importance of the 
events which had happened within its walls, the State 
Legislature, in 1902, created a Commission to purchase 
and care for the building, and later made appropriations 
for this purpose and for its restoration. From year to 
year there is a growing interest in its history and a con- 
stant increase in the number of its visitors. 







WOODBURY FIRE ENGINE, BUILT 1799. 



The Woodbury Fire Company* 

The citizens of Woodbury early in 1799 started a 
Fire Company, and collected funds for the purpose of a 
fire engine, which was delivered July 8th, 1799, at a cost 
of £135. This now venerable relic is in possession of 
Friendship Fire Company, successors to Woodbury Fire 
Company, and is highly prized by the firemen of Glouces- 
ter County. On gala occasions it is gorgeously deco- 
rated and the great grandchildren of the founders of the 
Woodbury Fire Company take prominent parts in the 
firemen's parades in the towns of Southern New Jersey. 

Benjamin W. Cloud has been a member of the 
Friendship Company since March 25, 1854, and while 
he does not fight fires to-day, generally manages to be on 
the ground. Samuel H. Ladd, present Mayor of Wood- 
bury, joined the company October 25, 1877. His father 
and grandfather were both members of the company. 

The early books of Woodbury Fire Company seem 
to be missing, but the rules and regulations of April 13, 
1799, revised and amended to March 28, 1808, still hang 
in the present Fire House. 

Each member was requested to provide himself at 
his own expense two leather buckets, one bag containing 
three yards of linen at least three-quarters of a yard wide. 
The buckets and bags had to be kept in their dwellings in 
view of the front door. Suitable fines were imposed for 
all kinds of delinquencies, and any members deemed 
unworthy of membership could be expelled by a two- 
thirds vote of the membership. There are forty-four 
names on the printed regulations. The last are added 
with pen and ink : 

Franklin Davenport, Benj. Rulon. Ephraim Miller, 
Samuel Ladd, Anthony Allen, Mark Brown, John Jes- 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



152 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

sup, Duncan Campbell, John Reeve, Samuel Mickle, 
Amos Cooper, Henry Rulon, Jr., James Saunders, James 
Matlack, Samuel Chatham, Joshua Ladd Howell, Wil- 
liam Brick, Samuel Webster, John Moore White, Thomas 
Wilkins, Isaac Ballenger, David C. Wood, Richard Snow- 
den, James B. Caldwell, Dayton Lummis, Moreton Stille, 
Eli Ayres, Robert Roe, John Reeves, Isaac M. Cooper, 
Job Brown, Saml. C. Hopkins, John Shivers, Oliver 
Davis, Benj. Whitecar, Thos. Saunders, Amos Campbell, 
Apollo Woodward, Daniel J. Packer, Charles Ogden, 
Ephraim N. Daniels, William Lawrence, William Sailor, 
Joseph C. Smith. 

An original subscription list showing the names 
and amounts of a few of those who contributed is given 
in full herewith. 

"We, the subscribers not being able from the re- 
moteness of our situations from the town of Woodbury, 
to become and act as members of a fire company es- 
tablishing in that place, but willing to promote and aid so 
laudable an institution, do hereby engage each for himself 
and herself to pay unto Benjamin Rulon, Treasurer of 
the Woodbury Fire Company, the sums of money an- 
nexed to our respective names, for the useful and 
benevolent purposes of assisting in the purchase of a 
fire Engine, Ladders and Hooks for the said town and 
company, and we promise to pay the same in ten days 
after the said Engine shall have been brought to Wood- 
bury. 

"Witness our hands, 27th April, 1799. 
"Engine delivered, 8 July, 1799. 

John Sparks $20 

John Jessup 20 

John Wilkins 30 

James B. Caldwell 5 

Michael C. Fisher 5 

F. Davenport 8 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 153 

John Blackwood $5 

John Pissant 3 

Isaac Crim 2 

Thos. Wilkins 2 

Samuel Whitall 8 

James Cooper 5 

John Tatum, Jr 4 

Joseph Reeves 3 

Joseph Whitall 5 

Mary Cooper 3 



10 




TATUM OAK, MT. ROYAL. 

This is one of the oldest trees in Southern New Jersey. In 1917 
measurements of the tree were as follows: Height, 92 feet; 
Girth, 6 feet above ground, 27 feet; Girth at 2 feet above 
ground, 32 feet; Spread of Branches, 110 feet. 



Samuel Mickle's Diary* 

Samuel Mickle. the son of Samuel and Letticia Mickle, was born 
7 mo. 1 day, 1746, O. S., and died 3 mo. 31 day, 1830. His wife was 
the daughter of Robert Friend and Hannah Price. She was born 
2 mo. 13 day, 1748, O. S., and died 10 mo. 13 day, 1809. 

On the 28th of November, 1792, Samuel Mickle, of 
Woodbury, commenced to keep a diary, and between that 
date and July 19, 1829, he recorded an immense amount 
of important historical and genealogical data. Alto- 
gether there are five books written in a perfectly plain, 
neat, legible, almost microscopic hand, containing seven 
hundred and fifty pages. The books are now in the 
possession of Miss Anna Mickle, and to her I am in- 
debted for the privilege of making one hundred and fifty 
pages of hand-written manuscript from which these 
printed facts are taken. 

For the sake of brevity it was necessary to omit 
the names of many of those who merely lodged or dined 
with him, as well as those whom he visited. He kept an 
open house and nearly every day he mentions the names 
of those at his home. Many young persons, principally 
relatives, lived with him while they attended the schools 
of Woodbury. 

His diaries make constant mention of his daily activ- 
ities in looking after his home, investments, and the 
various properties he owned. He was of a literary and 
religious turn of mind, and profuse poetical quotations 
and prayerful meditations abound in all of the five books. 

He was Clerk of the Friends' Meeting of Wood- 
bury, member of the Fire Company, Abolition Society, 
Gloucester County Bible Society, Library Company, look- 
ed after Deptford Free School and many of the other 
public affairs of the community. 

If there was any public movement for the general 
welfare of the people in which Samuel Mickle of Wood- 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



156 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

bury, as he often signed his name, to distinguish himself 
from his cousins, was not an active participant or pro- 
moter, I must confess I know nothing about it. 

I am inclined to believe there is not another diary 
in America to-day that is so complete in genealogical 
data. It is not an uncommon thing to find him describ- 
ing persons as the grand-parents or grand-children of 
others. As Clerk of the Friends' Meeting he recorded 
the births, deaths and marriages, and he cultivated the 
habit of inquiring the age of old people and recording 
their ages in his diaries. 

As a matter of fact his whole diary should be pub- 
lished word for word. He was related to many of the 
leading families of the community, and to-day many of 
the family names he recorded still profusely exist in 
Old Gloucester. 

He evidently began to keep a diary at the time he 
gave up merchandising, and it is a peculiar fact that no- 
where in his diary does he refer to his household expense 
books still in existence, and only incidentally to his store- 
keeping experiences. 

During the first years of his diary he was in deli- 
cate health and did not expect to live very long. In his 
old age his infirmities seemed to make him physically un- 
comfortable. We of to-day are fortunate that Samuel 
Mickle lived to a good old age and that his executors did 
not destroy his diaries as he suggested. 

He starts his fascinating diary with a quotation : 

"With pleasure let us own our errors past 
And make each day a critic on the last." 



"A soul without reflection, like a pile 
Without inhabitant, to ruin runs." 

E. R., p.285. 

"The 28th of 11 mo. 1792, on reading part of Wm. 
Penn's advice to's children's children entitled 'Fruits of a 
Father's Love' the 4th last lines of ye 21st section p. 30 
particularly drew my attention but not with an expecta- 
tion of putting it fully in practice * * * * ' 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 157 

"And to be more exact, for much lies in this : Keep a 
short journal of your time; though a day require but a 
line many advantages flow from it." 

Diary No. 1, 11-28, 1792, to 4 mo. 10, 1802, 198 pages 

Diary No. 2, 4-14, 1802, to 6 mo. 4, 1812, 188 pages 

Diary No. 3, 6-6, 1812, to 9 mo. 18, 1818, 90 pages 

Diary No. 4, 9-20, 1818, to 4 mo. 24, 1826, 180 pages 

Diary No. 5, 4-28, 1826, to 7 mo. 19, 1829, 94 pages 

750 pages 
These figures are my own. 

F. H. S. 

1792 

12/3. At funeral of one of Jos. Hews's sons, a lad of 
about 16. 

12/ 6. Cous. Job Whitall here a little while in morning. 

12/ 8. Hope Allen and my dear wife returned from 
Phila with acct of Sam'l Emlen and Sarah 
Harrison on religious visit to Familes in Dub- 
lin, Ireland. 

12/15. Mary Carson widow about 2 miles from Wood- 
bury died last night. 

12/18. Amos and Sarah Cooper here on way to Mary 
Carson. He with John Tatum, Jr. left by 
her late husband Wm. Carson dec'd as guard- 
ians to his children. 

12/22. Uncle David Cooper and cousin Sarah Cooper, 
Isaac Collins and wife and Jno. Collins and 
wife Charity here. 

12/24. Essayed writing me another will. 

12/26. Small pox spreads about our neighborhood. 
Dan'l Gregory and his daughter died of it last 
week, taken in ye natural way. 

12/27. Conveyancing being more agreeable than mer- 
chandising to my inclination should prefer to 
ye latter if a sedentary business suited my 
health. 
Daniel Smith and wife Leze late Price here on 
their way to Death of ye Fox Inn. He has 
sold it to Jeffry Clark. 



158 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1792. 

12/31. What a noise about ye neighborhood with firing 

guns as if rejoicing that another year is gone. 

One year nearer the grave and uncertain of 

seeing the end of another. 

1793 

l/ 8. Made some preparations to visit Philada. to- 
morrow morning having forgot ye report of 
a Balloon intended to be raised there to mor- 
row A. M. by Blanchard until my wife 

being reminded of it at our neighbor Aaron 
Thompson's, came home and told me this 
evening also that all Woodbury almost was 
going to see it which appearing likely to ob- 
struct my business with some people there 
have postponed going there. 

1/9. Great ado with looking for and at the Balloon 
which came I suppose within one mile from 
and eastward of us at Woodbury and per- 
haps Yz mile in height. This an instance of 
the body also as well as the mind being in 
ye air. Balloon is ye subject in almost every 
quarter. 

1/16. Andrew Hunter's black man Wm. died last night 
of Quinsy. 

1/17. Three burials to day viz. Jno. Barnes & Andw. 
Hunters black man William in Presby Bur'l 
Grd. and Benj. Hootens child in our grave 
yard. 

4/16. At Funeral of Andrew Hunters wife, much use- 
less parade at funeral. 

4/27. This being the day advertised for those to meet 
at Courthouse who are friendly to abolition 
of Slavery None but Jos. Clement, Franklin 
Davenport, Jacob Wood, Thos. Carpenter, 
Joseph Sloan, Joshua Howell, Job Kinsey 
and myself met. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 159 

1793- 

4/29. Jas. Cooper said he heard in Phila last 7th day 

27th that ye British vessel bound from Phila- 
da to Great Britain was made prize by ye 
French in Delaware Bay, and that our friends 
Eliz. Drinker and Geo. Dilwyn & wife were 
with their baggage set on shore by ye French. 
This day proposed to Andrew Hunter and Doc- 
tor Geo. W. Campbell that ye inhabitants of 
Woodbury supply themselves with Fire 
buckets, etc., and to set a subscription on foot 
which they approved of. 

4/30. Mentions legacy left by Cousin Hannah Morris 
deceased of Philadelphia. 

5/26. Moses Watson informs that Anthony Allen of- 
fered him $11 per month to work for him at 
Carpenter trade. 

5/30. Doctor Thos. Hendrys wife's Aunt Henrietta 
French on visit ye P. M. to my wife. 

6/ 4. Copying off Constitution of New Jersey Aboli- 
tion Society into Treasurer's account book 
for ye County. (He was the Treasurer of 
Abolition Society for Gloucester Co.) 

6/18. Elizabeth Hinchman widow of Jno. came in 
A. M. and staid till evening, says she was 
born 1722-3, therefore about 70 years of 
age. 

6/20. Richard Howell spent part of P. M. (N. B. 
Lately appointed Governor of ye State). Tn 
evening came Elias Boudinot, Doct. Van 
Ler and son Bernard, and Jos. Low on busi- 
ness. Also Doctor Collins. 

6/21. Deb'h Ruff wife of Dan'l Ruff (late Deb'h 
Pratt) Rebecca Folwell with her 2 children 
& Boy, Adam & Wra. Folwell's sister Ann 
on visit. Also in Evening came Wm. Fol- 
well. 



160 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1793- 

7/13. A new pretence for a frolic has turned up for 
our Woodburyians etc. who with others of 
our neighborhood went to Glo'ster to cele- 
brate ye Anniversary of French Indepen- 
dence. 

7/27. Amy Hunter and her sister Ruth Voorhies on 
visit to my wife. 
From time to time he describes yellow fever 
epidemics, making candles, bottling cider, 
currant wine, cutting hay, wood, planting 
potatoes, weather, ill health, court, Friends' 
Meetings, great entertainers, trips in chair to 
Phila. & return, tending store, horseback 
rides, religious sentiments, dreams, garden 
work, fevers, pump, etc. 

8/22. My beloved wife not so well, off & on of bed 
and couch by turns. Exceedingly sickly in 
town & country with ye influenza also ye pu- 
trid or yellow fever is said to be in Phila of 
which so many die, said to have been intro- 
duced there by means of a cargo of damaged 
coffee lately landed there. 

8/30. The infection in Phila employs greatest part of 
conversation in ye neighborhood. A corpse 
on its way from Philada to' Woodstown was 
stopped in Woodbury detained and buried 
last night in ye Presbyterian Burial Ground. 
The bringing of it gave much umbrage to 
ye people of ye place. 

9/ 1. Jonathan Wood & wife brought by water from 
Phila this P. M. and interred in Woods 
Burial Ground. 

9/19. Anthony Sharp buried ye morning in Phila. 

9/28. William Wilson wrote me at bottom of his bill : 
Beloved Friend S. M. There are so many 
stores shut up that I know not how to pro- 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 161 



1793. 



cure ye other articles mentioned in thy 
order. 

10/ 2. Accounts from Phila continue very alarming 
and among ye many deaths mentioned is 
that of my late master Jonathan Shoemaker. 

10/ 6. Eli Brownson dec'd and buried of putrid fever 
being ye first in Woodbury. 

10/13. In P. M. went to Jno. Blackwoods — I walked 
about the place where ye Old Dwelling house 
used to stand where my grandfather John 
Mickle and uncle Jno. Mickle and cousin 
John Mickle used to reside. Viewed trees 
which I knew when young and thrifty like 
myself. Could scarcely find the spot where 
ye old house had stood and this poor totter- 
ing body of mine here yet. 
At this time the terrors of the yellow fever epi- 
demic in Philada. and vicinity are fully de- 
scribed, together with notices of many deaths 
of his acquaintances in Woodbury & Philada. 
and as late as Nov. 30 he records that the 
pestilence still continues in Phila. in a few 
instances. 
On Dec. 10th, 1793, he writes : Thus ends some 
account of ye manner of employing (in too 
many instances wasting) precious time up- 
ward of a year. 
On the next page 4 years afterward he writes : 
Have had thot's at times for a year or two 
past of resuming a Diary and particularly 
ye 15th of 12 mo., 1797. Dec. 27, 97, I did 
not expect to see ye time of life having been 
complaining for about 28 years past and 
scarcely one hour of that 28 yrs. free from 
a degree of pain. 



1 62 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1798 

1/12. He mentions visit of Elias Hicks. 

1/2 1. Josh'a Hopper, Jr., Inkeeper at Woodbury, 
died. Age about 23 years. 

1/27. Aunt Hannah Ladd deceased. 

2/22. Visited Sarah Whitalls at Red Bank, the house 
of mourning indeed, between 11 of 9th and 
1 8th of 10 mo last inclusive hath deceased 
her husband Job Whitall, her husbands 
mother, Ann, and children Job, Sarah and 
Aaron Whitall and girl Sarah Burroughs. 
Also other scenes of distress have been at 
that place. Witness their fine apple orchard 
cut down and ground dug up in great 
trenches and works thrown up in erecting 
a Fort there, their dwelling house walls bat- 
tered in holes while the family were en- 
deavoring to live quietly therein, fruits of a 
battle between ye American & Hessian Sol- 
diers in 1777 when after it I saw men lying 
naked on ye ground except in part covered 
with a little straw and some of them 
with their limbs off having died of their 
wounds. 

3/ 3. Visited Depthford Free School. 

5/13. Mary, widow of Solomon Lippincott (and 
daughter of Ab'm Chattin a dec'd English- 
man) dined. Very cheerful about j6 years of 
age, entertained my dear wife and me with 
accounts of old times or days of her youth 
and respecting of those inhabitants, buildings 
&c of this part of ye county. 

6/18. Light horsemen exercising in sham fight along 
Woodbury street. 

8/ 9. Yellow fever in Philada. 

8/22. Yellow fever at Oldmans Creek, Port Eliza- 
beth, Thompsons Point and Haddonfield. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 163 

1798. 

9/12. Doctor Jno. Otto is recovering and about 
again. 
This clay completes my 51st year. 
9/18. Isaac Saunders died of yellow fever in 24th 
year of his age, at Woodbury. 
Doctor Geo. W. Campbell and Sarah Kaighn 
died 9-2-98. 
9/30. Biddle Reeves recovered from yellow fever. 
Oct. Deaths mentioned : Hannah Inskeep, Martin 
Moody, Sam'l Townsend, Josiah Hopkins, 
Abraham Gibbon, Robt. Kirkbride, Wm. 
Jackson, Jas. Emlen, Hannah, wife of Jacob 
Lindley, Mary Sharpless, Rebecca Cooper. 
10/ 9. Mentions Deborah Steward. 

1799 

2/22. An unusual noisy time about Woodbury ye P. 
M. A very general parade of militia with 
cannon and small arms drum & fife etc and 
flag hoisted on top of ye Court house (Gen'l 
Geo Washingtons birth day celebrated). 

3/16. Went with Jno Reeve to an advertised meeting 
at Jos Huggs tavern to establish a fire com- 
pany in Woodbury and its neighborhood, 
made some progress and adjourned to ye 
day 2 weeks 2 P. M. to meet at ye Acad- 
emy. 

3/18. Report says 2 or 3 counties in Penna revolt 
against government, also accounts from 
other points of ye United States threaten 
trouble. 

3/24. Peter Andrews of Little Egg Harbour brother 
of Edward at meeting. 
Mother in law Leze Smith late Price has been 
ill at Egg Harbour lately, brought home yes- 
terday. 



164 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1799. 

4/3-4. Went to Laddstown, Swedesborough and 
Sculltown. Complains about noisy tavern. 

4/ 5. Preparative meeting, no business except ordering 
as subscription of 3o£ for encouragement of 
lately proposed Fire Company in Woodbury. 
The 2 Schools in Woodbury have subscribed 
$40 each besides fire buckets and proposal is 
to be made to ye board of Freeholders for £50 
more by committee of Fire Co. 

4/15, 16, 17, 18, 19. At Phila yearly meeting visited 
friends and relatives viz. George Guests, 
Elizabeth Fox, Mary Cresson, Sarah Shoe- 
maker, Thos. Shoemaker, Geo. F. Alberti, 
Wm. Folwell, Sam'l Richards Sr. and Jr., 
John Townsend, &c, &c. 
Complains of poor health, always expecting 
to die. Ailments like coughs, colds and 
rheumatism. Doctors Lummis, Hendry and 
Stratton mentioned. 

5/ 3. Chalkley Albertson and Zachariah Dickson of 
North Carolina inoculated for small pox at 
Jos. Whitalls. 
Friends meetings at Moorestown, Mullica Hill, 
Crosswicks, Chestnut Ridge, Burlington, 
and Phila Friends meetings mentioned all 
through diary. 

5/29. Various company all day. 

6/ 3. Old age creeps on and little matters fatigue me. 
May I be prepared for a better country. 

6/ 9. Jno. E. Hopkins manager for building ye Clerk's 
office opposite our house stays with us. 
Drowsy, pains in back, head and neck. 

6/10. Visited by old friend and former neighbors Wm. 
Snowden and wife. Snowden now in his 
70th year. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 165 

1799. 

6/18. My dear wife took ye widow of Elijah Clark 
to Daniel Smiths and to Joshua Howells on 
20th visited Elisha Clark, his mother and 
Joseph Reed of Mt. Holly being there. 
7/ 1. Yellow fever in Phila. 

7/ 9. Our Woodbury Fire Engine has arrived here 
last evening. The attention of all Woodbury 
was taken up in the exercising of it including 
myself. Cost of it £135. 
7/12. Visited Paul Cooper and saw the diary of a 
pious woman Margaret Magdalen. It belongs 
to Sarah Cresson. Maiden name of Margaret 
Magdalen was Jasper. 
7/18. Robert Haydock & Son Eden coppered ye roof 

of ye Clerk's office today. 
7/31. Visited Clonmell again. 
8/1 1. David Sparks young man deceased also Samuel 

Hinchman aged 18. 
8/14. Visited by old friend Amy Hunter accompanied 

by her nephew Andrew Hunter. 
9/15. Surveying. 
10/ 4. Wrote letter for Sarah Whitall (Redbank) to 

her son Mark at Westown school. 
9/15. Thos. Thorne Jr. married Mary Haines. 
10/15. At Friends meeting. 

12/ 9. Wm. Abbott of Salem interred last 5th day. 
12/18. Ricketts circus in Phila burnt last night when 

about to act a diabolic scene. 
12/26. Report says Geo. Washington late President 
dec'd ye 14th inst. of an inflammatory sore 
throat and short illness. 
12/28. Military parade escorted our Gov. Howell to and 
from Presbyterian meeting. Thos. Picton 
minister. 

1800 

I / 3- Jesse Chew Methodist preacher interrupted sol- 
emn meeting-. 



1 66 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1800. 

1/ 6. Transcribing our last monthly meeting into ye 
bound book as scribe to said meeting. 

2/ 1. Mary Kaighn widow of Samuel Kaighn interred 
at Newton. 

2/ 6. Read newspapers this P. M. A great overturn 
of affairs in France. Napoleon Bonaparte 
has returned from Egypt and taken ye lead at 
Paris. 

2/16. Read part of dear dec'd Daniel Stantons Jour- 
nal. I have known him in my youthful days. 

2./2,2. An unusual parade of military in Woodbury. 
The Free Masons in their Masonic dress to 
commemorate the death of Gen'l Geo. Wash- 
ington and an oration delivered on ye occa- 
sion at ye Court house by Parson John Croes 
of Swedesborough. Woodbury Fire Co. 
meeting ye P. M. present only 10 members 
of 30. 

2/26. Jane ye 2nd wife of Chas. West, dec'd. 

3/ 1. John Wistar on his way home from Philada 
lodges and related several anecdotes of Sam'l 
Emlen late deceased (one recorded about 
Methodists). 
Read current, literature and Journals of the 
times. Mentions many standard books. 

3/23. Subpoenaed by Aaron Pancoast in a Land litiga- 
tion. 

4/ 5. As clerk to Fire Co. del'd Doct. Thos. Hendry 
a copy of minutes of his expulsion from mem- 
bership with said Co. 

4/15. Most of ye day in company with Surveyors of 
Roads on application of Edward Brewer for 
a new straight road from a proposed new 
bridge to be built over ye S. Branch of Great 
Timber Creek, said road to extend thence to 
central part of Woodbury say ye Court 
House. Other notes about this road occur. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 167 

1800. 

4/30. Anna wife of Cousin Wm. Cooper and daugh- 
ter of Mark Miller married only 4 months, 
deceased last evening. 

5/ 9. Jervis Johnson lately returned from a religious 
visit to Canada at Preparative meeting. 

5/13. James Saunders approved by meeting to take his 
place as clerk. S. M. continued to record 
marriages, births and burials. 

5/15. On trip to Laddstown and Sculltown left wife 
and chair at cousin Samuel Mickle and pro- 
ceeded on horseback. 

5/26. Beloved wife with cousin Hannah Whitall went 
on Church business to Sandtown. 

6/ 6. Again asked meeting to release him from care 
of burying ground. 

6/17. Visited by Keziah Mickle daughter of Jos., Mary 
Cooper daughter of Amos. 

7/12. Ebenezer Miller near Salem dec'd. 

7/16. Hannah wife of Joseph Mickle dec'd. 

8/12. Funeral of Ebenezer Cresson and Aaron Pan- 
coast. 
Missed monthly meeting for the first time since 
it was established more than 15 years ago. 

8/18. Dr. Thos. Hendry tells him he is tending 
towards apoplexy or Palsey. 

8/21. Zaccheus Test and Hannah Reeves married to- 
day. 

8/23. Yellow fever at Norfolk, New York and Balto. 
and Fells point. 

8/30. James Lee of near Maurice River about a week 
ago while riding in a chair or sulky had his 
horse killed by lightning. He was stunned 
and felled across his dead horse about 12 
miles from home. 



1 68 Notes on Oud Gloucester County. 

1800. 

9/ 5- Wife of Biddle Reeves, funeral. 
9/10. Wm. Hutton age 70 whose father Jno: Hutton 
lived to be no years old is building a new 
house for Thos. Mann. 
9/29. My dear wife went with cousin Sarah Hopkins 
and her grand daughter Elizabeth, daughter 
of Jas. Hopkins, Elizabeth widow of Benj. 
Whitall and Sarah wife of Jno. S. Whitall, to 
Joseph Whitalls. 

10/ 1. Introduced to Duncan Campbells father who 
looked liked his son the late Doctor Geo. W. 
Campbell. On 10/3 he mentions Benjamin 
brother of Duncan. 

10/23. Jas. Hinchmans barn struck by lightning and 
consumed. 

10/26. Mentions Jedediah Allen and wife, Solomon S. 
Saunders and his intended wife, Lydia Bur- 
roughs, Mary Lippincott, Rebecca Saunders 
as guests. 

11/ 9. Mary Miller deceased to-day. 

12/12. Joshua Lord and Sarah Jessup married. 

12/24. Election in Woodbury for members of Congress. 
The Federals prevailed on Mary Saunders to 
give her vote. 

12/31. Noisy night with drums and guns. Read man- 
uscript Journal of our dear deceased friend 
Joshua Evans. 

1801 

1/30. Visited school with Benj. Roulon, Biddle 
Reeves, Jas. and Paul Cooper. 

2/15. Jno. Redman and wife and daughter Mary, De- 
borah Steward and Letticia Craig, Lodge. 

No entry between 2/20, 1801, and 4 mo. 1, 1801, 
when he writes, "I now resume my pen after having been 
near the gates of Death, etc." Carefully describes his 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 169 

sickness and Doctor Hendry's treatment. While he was 
sick he first told his wife of this diary, giving her liberty 
to destroy all or part of it after his decease. 

1801. 

4/20 & 21. Made catalogue of his books and pamphlets. 

5/ 1. Visited by Cousin Deborah wife of Jos. Hugg 
and her sister Hester Matlack. 

5/ 4. Went away in chair, visited Rebecca Lippin- 
cott at Mullica Hill and her son Joshua Lip- 
pincott, Thos. Battin and Jacob Haines, near 
Sweedesborough. 

5/10. Aaron H. Middleton & Deborah Whitall mar- 
ried, Phineas Lord & wife together with S. 
M. and wife overseers. Deborah was sister 
of Mary Whitall, who married Robert Hop- 
kins. 

5/19. Visited Benj. Reeve sick at Job Tylers on way 
to Salem, under care of Doctor Wister. 

5/22. Joseph Sharp buried. He was father of boy 
who lived with S. M., and who died a few 
months previous. 

6/ 9. Joseph Ogden and Sybil Tatum married. 

6/16. Court Week. Many people in to-day, among 
them Thos. Redman & wife, James Cooper, 
Daniel Smith & his daughters Mary & 
Elizabeth Smith, ye latter from Egg Harbor, 
wife of Evi Smith. 

6/17. Wrote to Andrew Hunter near Trenton, about 
a mortgage on his land. 

6/18. Joseph Hillman who removed from Woodbury 
in Spring of 1800 returned yesterday a week, 
died of consumption and was buried in the 
Presbyterian Burial Ground. 

7/ 2. Rachel Wilkins, wife of Isaac Wilkins and 
daughter of Joseph Low, dec'd. 

7/3°- Joseph Eustace, mason, died this A. M. 



170 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1 80 1. 

8/17. My beloved wife appointed on a committee to 
judge of suitableness of establishing a Prep- 
arative Meeting at Maurice River. 

8/28. Attended funeral of Jno. Matts at ye Strangers 
burying ground. 

9/ 4. Called on Franklin Davenport and his mother. 

9/13. Mentions Dr. Wm. Lummis. 

9/24. Surveying proposed new road from Jas. Davis 
(at Strawberry bank) to fall in near Wards 
grave yard. Found it had been erroneously 
staked off. 

9/26. Ann Davenport, mother of Franklin Daven- 
port, departed this life last night about mid- 
night. 

9/27. From meeting came Thos. Carpenter & wife 
and their son Edward & wife, and in P. M. 
my dear wife went with them in their wagon 
to the Burial of Ann Davenport at Presby- 
terian Burial Ground. 
Wm. Goodwin buried on 1st day last. 

10/ 1. Last week black Mingo deceased late belong- 
ing to my deceased Father in law Robert 
Friend Price. She was blind and incapable 
of maintaining herself was boarded out. 

10/18. John Hopper, Jr., son of Levi, deceased this 
P. M. 
Zatthu Whitalls wife Lydia, late Jones, dec'd. 

10/27. Jos. Richards to be married to Margery John- 
son in Phila. 

12/ 7. An invitation to funeral of Jonathan Fisher, 
Sr. 

12/19. Visited Benj. Lovett. He and wife had gone 
to Newton meeting held for first time in 
their new brick meeting house on ye Ferry 
road. 

12/25. Hannah Lord, mother of Joshua, dec'd. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 171 

1 801. 

12/25. Frequent mention of Sister Blanch Price. 

Always writes my dear wife or my beloved wife 
or my precious wife, never my wife, but 
once. 

1802 

1/30. Mary Tatum, mother of Rachel wife of Levi 
Hopper is still living, age 91 yrs. 

2/1 1. Visited Joshua Lippincott, Robt. Cook, Dr. 
Jas. Stratton also a court held at Stretch's 
tavern by Stratton and Thos. Heston. Stop- 
ped few minutes at Jacob Haines and Cousin 
Sam'l Mickle. 

2/17. Wrote and executed my will. 

2/19. Old Neighbor Jno. Sparks, Sen'r, buried at 
ye Presbyterian Burial Grounds. Large 
number of people attended. Dec'd early 
yesterday morning said to be in his 85th 
year, born in summer of 1716. 

2/24. Rec'd letter from Geo. F. Albertis ye P. M. giv- 
ing account of the decease of his beloved 
wife Hannah. Hannah Albertis was a half 
sister of Mrs Mickle. She was buried in 
the German Church ground. Henry Hel- 
muth officiating 2-26. 

2/2J. Breakfasted at G. Guests, saw Nicholas Wain 
about ground rents. 

3/12. Joseph Tomlinson and Mary Cooper, daugh- 
ter of Benjn. Cooper, late dec'd, married. 

3/15. Visited by Mordecai Wetherill. 

3/19. Joseph Reeves and Sarah Whitall, widow, mar- 
ried. 

3/25. Mark Brown's wife Ann, late Hopkins, died 
of measles, buried on 27th in Woods Bur- 
ial Ground. 

First Vol. of diary, 198 pages, ends 4-10-1802. 



172 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1802. 

4/16. In Philada after Plaister, taking Hannah P. 
Alberti daughter of George F. Alberti whom 
he visited also Sam'l Morris, Sam'l Richards ; 
was at the jail and lodged with cousin Geo. 
Guest. 

4/17. Rose early and was at Plaister mill up Market 
Street before sun rise thence to breakfast at 
G. Guests thence to Market St. Ferry and at 
Jas. Lippincott thence to ye water reservoir 
at ye Centre about 13th St. thence to ye Bet- 
teringhouse, ye Hospital and to Elijah Har- 
ker's below Spruce St. thence above 6th in 
Race St. where I at length concluded to get 
Plaister thence to Geo. F. Albertis, Negus 
Ferry etc & etc. 

5/27. He owned property near Swedesboro and made 
occasional trips to collect money. On this 
day he wrote : "wearied with my Swedesbor- 
ough expedition. Almost determined some 
time past to quit keeping a diary." 

5/28. Aaron Thompson young man son of Sam'l 
Thompson dec'd and interred in Wood's 
Burial ground. 

7/15. At Franklin Davenport's to engage ye refusal of 
house next adjoining on this side for Cousin 
Geo. Guest if he removes to Woodbury. 

7/26. Thos. Reeves brother of Joseph Reeves of Red 
Bank found dead in woods to day supposedly 
killed by lightning. 

7/29. Yellow fever again in Phila. 

8/ 4. Geo-. F. Alberti and his four other children 
Maria, George, Charles and Edwin came to 
Woodbury. 

8/10. Mentions Forest View, so named by cousin 
Eliz. Guest. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 173 

1802. 

8/1 1. Attended funeral of Joseph Murdock who deceas- 
ed at home of his uncle Jno. S. Whitall. 

The diaries mention thousands of visits made by 
various persons, many of whom "lodged" with him. 

Cousins E & A Guest returned with Wm ye son 
of Thos Hancock from Elsinborough. 
9/13. On an arbitration to day with my colleagues Jos. 
Rogers of Waterford, Jno. Brick and Jer. 
Wood Esqrs. and Math. Gill of Woolwich at 
Jos. Heppards tavern Woodbury, between 
Jas. Sloan next friend and on behalf of Han- 
nah Wood Plaintiff wife of Zachariah Wood 
late Liewallen of one part and Zackariah 
Wood and his brother Henry Wood of other 
part. 
9/23. Wrote Sarah Bordens Will. 

10/ 4. Doctor Geo. F. Alberti administered 25 drops 
of Laud'm in wine whey to a sick man. 

10/ 7. Chas. West interred to day at Newton. 

10/23. George Guest deceased age 55 yrs 16th inst. In- 
terred in Phila. 

10/24. This day 26 years my beloved wife and I were 
married. 

10/26. Several died lately in neighborhood of Carpen- 
ters Bridge also Jas. Fletcher at Barnesbor- 
ough. 

11/ 7. Jas. Gibson son of James buried in Friends 
graveyard also Zatthu Whitall. 

11/10. Surveyed and laid off a family burial ground 
from and on part of Benj. Hoppers land. 

11/19. Tacy wife of Samuel Jennings buried at Wood- 
bury. 
John Kay drowned himself in his mill pond 
about a week ago. 



174 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1802. 

11/22. Visited Anna ye widow of Thos. Clifford dec'd 
who is the 84th year of her age. Also cousin 
Elizabeth Fox and my mistress Sarah Shoe- 
maker in her 72 year, in Philada. 

1 1/28. Candlemaking. 

12/ 4. Went in great haste by horse back to Thos. Saun- 
ders wrote his will. In the evening his son 
James reported his death. Buried in Wood- 
bury on the 6th. 

12/17. Sam'l Webster Jr. and cousin Sarah daughter 
of Amos Cooper married to day. 

12/22. Emanuel Devall dec'd. 

12/25. J°b Kinsey, joiner dec'd. 

12/31. School visitation upward of 50 scholars of whom 
42 are writers. 
Remarkable little firing of guns about our town. 

1803 

1/20. Jno. Lawrence's wife Mary Ann and Deborah 
Davenport on visit to my wife. 
Sarah Widow of Isaac Mickle Sr. dec'd. 

1/25. Attended wedding of Thos. Clement son of 
Sam'l Clement brick maker and Sarah Hop- 
per daughter of Levi Hopper. 

2/ 3. Went to Dan'l Smiths house at ye Windmill and 
took notes for writing a lengthy will. Thun- 
der storm. 

2/19. Select Quarterly meeting. Hannah Clement 
widow of Jno., Deborah Steward and Eliza- 
beth wife of Charles French of Phila lodge. 

2/23. At funeral of Sarah Borden. Produced and 
read will to relatives. 

3/17. This day 44 years (in 1759) the snow on ye 
ground in the Deer park in ye woods being 
then level was one yard deep — the deepest 
snow I ever remember. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 175 

1803. 

3/20. Sarah ye wife of Jas. Hinchman and daughter 
of Joseph Morgan, is to be buried in Wood- 
bury 22nd. 

4/ 4. Wrote Blanch Prices will. 

4/23. Rose 3 A. M. Went to Phila on horseback. 
Cousin Elizabeth Fox informed me she was 
born July 1st 1729, old style. 

5/ 8. Trees and bushes damaged by a wet snow. 

Mentions other snow storms, May 5th, 1774; March 
17, 1759, and March, 1764. 

5/20. Lydia widow of Wm. Robinson dec'd. 

5/27. Abigail Ellis widow of Joseph Ellis dec'd, to 
meet at her son Samuel's at Glos'ter for fune- 
ral. 

6/ 2. Attended funeral of Geo. Brown 18 or 19 yrs 
old son of Ashur. 
Richard Miller of ye neighborhood of Salem 
deceased yesterday at house of Joseph Bur- 
roughs, interred at Haddonfield. 

6/ 4. Friends School house at Woodbury struck by 
lightning. 

7/ 9. Reaping and cradling wheat. 

7/17. Wrote will of Isaac Jones who is sick. He died 
on the 19th. 

7/26. Benj'n and Henry Rulons store broken last 
night. One of the thieves' was caught in 
Phila 4 days later and placed in Woodbury 
jail. 

8/ 1. Sister Blanch Price deceased at home of Brother 
Jos. Hinchman. Buried in Haddonfield. 

8/ 3. Mentions Kays late Blackwoods mill. 

8/24. Sold house and lot of Blanch Price to Isaac 
Tomlinson of Haddonfield. 

9/ 3. Preparative meeting. A subscription to raise 
about $200 supposed to be about our quota of 
Westowns School debt. 



176 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1803. 

9/ 3. Assisted in hauling hay. 
9/12. My birth day. 58th year commenced. 
9/23. Yellow fever at Phila, Chews Landing and Tim- 
ber Bridge. John Anderson formerly inn 
keeper at Woodbury who moved a few days 
ago' from Phila to Salem is since deceased of 
it. 
9/26. Funeral of Rebecca Redman wife of Thos. Red- 
man Sr. 

10/ 2. Sam'l Chatham and Rebecca Hillman married. 

10/ 6. Judge Isaac Smith of Trenton here awhile in 
A. M. 

10/ 7. John Blackwood deceased last night, buried at 
Haddonfleld. 

10/14. Out ancient neighbor Sam'l Harrison dec'd. 

10/29. Desire Brown wife of Jos. Brown and sister of 
Biddle Reeves deceased. 

11/ 4. British Parliament passed an act exempting 
Quakers from military duty. His comment 
"Wonderful indeed if so." 

11/20. Caroline Whitall dec'd. 

11/24. Rectified error of Sam'l Wilkins in measuring 
Methodist meeting house lot. 

11/25. Jedediah Allen, Jr., and Letitia Hinchman mar- 
ried at our meeting. 
Rode to Isaiah Ward to see about getting a rag 
carpet woven. 

12/13. Ashur Brown made known his intentions of re- 
moving to ye Western territory of the U. S. 

12/14. Andrew Eurian drowned in Phila a few nights 
ago. 

12/31. He writes "Lord! make me wiser every year 
and better every day." 

1804 

1/16. David Wards wife Hannah buried at Wood- 
bury. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 177 

1804. 
1/2 1. Sarah Ward went in stage to see her sister Han- 
nah Reeve at Maurice River. 

Mentions many Quaker missionaries from all quar- 
ters throughout his diaries. 

2/ 4. Describes fire at Jno. Lawrence. Court House 
and Academy bells were rung. Fire engines 
mentioned. 
2/1 1. Made 400 pills of asafoetida, castile soap, oil 

juniper and honey. 
3/15. Surveyed triangle piece at Jno. Jessups large 
three story house in Woodbury. 
Wrote deed for Jno Keen and wife to Biddle 
Reeves and Jno Tatum, Jr. 

3/16. Aaron Pancoast & Anne Cooper married. 

5/ 7. John Smith father of Daniel Smith Sr., de- 
ceased last night — Also heard of decease of 
Biddle Reeves mother Ann Reeves, also of 
ye decease of Michael Fisher's wife Re- 
becca. 

5/ 8, Heard of ye decease of ye wife of Archibald 
Mofifett Sen'r, and Daniel Bassett. 

5/18. Ira Allen and Catherine Cooper married. 
Arthur Howell, Jno Gill, Deborah Steward 
and her sister Hannah Clement here after 
meeting. 

5/24. This week a young man near Sharptown was 
killed by lightning, another seriously hurt. 

5/25. Went to buy wool. 

6/ 8. Egg Harbor & Cape May meetings mentioned. 

6/15. Brought home my new Dutch Fan, price $17.00 
and $1 to Amos Smith son of Daniel, for 
his trouble. 

7/ 1. Hannah Reeve, widow of Mark, at meeting. 

7/1 1. Stung by bumble bees at barn. 



178 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1804. 
7/1 1. James Whitall says he will be 87, 9th mo. next, 

Ann Ladd born in 171 5, his late wife 17 16 

and he in 1717. 
7/16. At funeral of 9 mo. old child of Presbyterian 

Parson, Tho. Picton. 
7/18. Dan'l Cooper at ye Ferry dec'd. 
8/1 1. Attended funeral of Elisha Clarks mother, aged 

about 65 years. Interred in Presbyterian 

ground. 
8/24. Hear Evi Smith deceased ye morning. 
9/25. Jesse Smiths wife's funeral. 
10/ 2. Geo. C. Ward & wife about to remove today to 

ye state of Ohio. 
10/ 4. Surveyed an additional piece of ground to en- 
large our school yard and extend to ye 

Strangers burial ground. 
11/13. Eliada Paxson of Bucks Co., and Mary Cooper, 

daughter of Amos, married. 
11/20. Finished cleaning my present years crop of 

wheat. 
11/25. Ann Sparks, widow, and daughter of James 

Ward, come to reside with us a 4/6 per 

week. 
12/ 4. Had our young bull killed, aged 2 yr. 4 mo., 11 

da., weight abt. 600 lbs. 
12/ 6. Sarah Whitall wife of Sam'l, daughter of 

Joseph Ellis, dec'd ye day. 
12/15. Repainting ye old desk and book case made 

in 1725 (according to receipt for payment) 

late belonging to Uncle John and Aunt 

Ladd. 
12/17. Fire in his stove chimney. Broke up Court 

twice. Fire engine called out. Full descrip- 
tion of supposed cause and its effects. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 179 

1805 

1/6. Read part of Isaac Andrews manuscript jour- 
nal. 
1/16. Wife drawn over Delaware River in sleigh by 

the Ferryman on the ice. 
3/ 2. Sam'l Hugg deceased yesterday. 
3/15. John Knight, Sarah Jones married. 
3/19. Sowed my lot in Spring wheat. 
4/20. In Phila Cousin Sam'l Mickle Fox being 

President of the Pennsylvania Bank showed 

it to me from top to bottom. Was out on 

its stone roof and down in ye cellar. Very 

curious indeed. 
5/ 4. Wrote certificate for Sam'l Packer & wife and 

family to the Miami's in ye State of Ohio. 
5/ 5. Edward Vaughn died at Mullica Hill yesterday. 

Buried in Presbyter, burial ground near 

Woodbury today. 
5/ 7. Attended funeral of Jno. Haines. 
5/13. Ann Down interred today. 

Rec'd order from President of Fire Co. to call 

a special meeting. 
5/18. Read Martha Rouths manuscript Journal 

(London to America). 
6/ 9. Rec'd account of decease of Mary wife of 

Sam'l Denny at Haddonfield, late Mary 

West, daughter of Thos. & Deborah West. 
6/21. Abel Clements son Thos. had his barn burned 

by lightning. 
7/10. Wheat reaping, 6 sickles. 
7/27. Jonathan Gibson deceased, buried in Friends' 

graveyard. 
8/15. Marmaduke Burr died. 
7/22. Attended funeral of Mary Gibson, wife of 

Joseph, upward of 80 years of age. 
8/23. Yellow fever in Phila. 



1S0 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1805. 

9/10. Dunn & Owen, No. 48 N. Front St., Phila., 
moved their merchandise into my shop. 

9/20. Ebenezer Miller deceased also Joseph Thack- 

ara. 
9/27. Aaron Chew & David Bassetts wife deed, of 
yellow fever at Chews Landing, also Samuel 
"Ellis. 
Mentions death of a young woman of yellow 
fever at residence of Eph'm Tomlinson in 
Woodbury, and that his son Joseph Tom- 
linson living between the two Timber creeks, 
died of it Oct. 1. 

10/23. Eliza Vandivere, widow, a female tailor, a 
maker of mens and boys clothes, come to 
work. 

10/27. Louisa, wife of Elisha Clark, on visit. 

11/18. At Elisha Clark's Vendue. Party spirit has 
wrested ye Clerks office from him and be- 
stowed it on Chas. Ogden. 

11/21. Elisha Clark removed with his family to Phila. 

12/ 6. Invited to visit Eliz Cowperthwaiths school ye 
P. M. at ye Presbyterian's Academy. 

12/ 8. Rebecca, wife of cousin Jas. Hopkins of Had- 
donfield, dee'd. 

12/ 6. Posted my books. 

1806 

1/ 8. John Stephens dee'd. 

1/20. Levi Hopper and son Levi, Jos. Whitall, Sam'l 
Mickle and wife Sophia, Benj. Lord here by 
turns thro' ye day. 

2/ 3. John Estaugh Hopkins born 5/5/1738. O. S. 
deceased at Haddonfield. 

2/ 5. Thos. Redman informed me he was 63 years old 
12 mo. last. 

2/19. Went on horse back to John Collins at Wood- 
land tenement. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 181 

1806. 

2/20. Blue birds and frogs singing. In ye 2d month 
1779 the peach trees were in bloom and my 
dear wife made peach blossom syrup some of 
which remains yet in our house. Visited 
Dan'l Smith and his wife, mother in law Leze 
Smith. 

2/27. Rebecca Jones returned from her ^2 sisters wed- 
ding. 

3/14. Wm. Miller and Hester Cooper married. 

3/25. Informed J. S. I conclude to occupy my shop or 
store myself with lumber, etc. 

4/18. Got four shad at Jno. Whitall's fishery at Wood- 
bury dam. 

4/25. Chas. Potts and Susan Wood married at meet- 
ing to day. I read certificate. 

4/29. Went to Joshua Howell's to bespeak shad. On 
our way called to see his mother Frances 
Howell. 

5/ 9. This evening an appearance of a great fire in ye 
direction Phila. 

5/10. Reported 21 houses burned on Dock St. last 
evening. 

6/ 2. Late potatoes planting. 

6/16. An almost total eclipse of ye Sun between 9 & 1 1 
A. M. Saw 1 star. 

6/28. Marked a number of my flour bags with oil and 
lamp black. 

7/ 4. At 7.45 A. M. arrived at Isaac Kays mill about 
5 miles distant with wheat and corn. 

7/1 1. Heard of marriage of Humphrey Owen an old 
man of 76. 

7/12. Got early vegetables, potatoes, squashes, cucum- 
bers and radishes at Clement Reeves. 

7/14. Went money hunting and returned as empty as 
I set out. 



1 82 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1806. 

7/21. Sam'l Haines, Tanner (son of Jno. Haines dec'd) 
died. Also informed Elijah Cozens buried 
yesterday. 
8/ 1. Preparing a permanent apple drying scaffold. 
8/26. Rec'd an invitation to funeral of an ancient 
neighbor Mary Tatum widow of Joseph Ta- 
tum dec'd said to have been 95 years old on 
26th of 12 mo. last. Died near Phila. Corpse 
brought over and buried from home of Levi 
Hopper Sen'r who married her daughter 
Rachel the latter a school mate of mine. 
8/31. Went to Chestnut Ridge meeting (Friends). 
9/12. This day 61st year of my age commenced. 
9/13. Aaron H. Middleton dec'd. 
9/20. Had 8 bbls. of cider made. 

10/20. Mary Mickle daughter of Jos. Mickle buried. 

10/23. Wm. Sloane and Hannah Clement married. 

10/24. This day 30 years ago my beloved wife and I 
were married. 

10/26. Funeral of Sam'l Haines son of Jacob and Eliza- 
beth Haines late our boy who left us and ap- 
prenticed to Sam'l Haines tanner. 

11/ 1. Israel Morris deceased lately in Phila. 

11/ 4. Our neighbor Jno. Lawrence (lawyer) deceased 
of consumption this P. M. Rec'd an invita- 
tion to funeral of Rebecca wife of Chas. 
French, Phila to morrow at 1 1 A. M. 

11/ 5. Jno. Lawrence buried at Burlington. 

11/13. Cousin Paul Cooper and Hannah Knight mar- 
ried. 

11/14. My beloved wife gave up womens quarterly 
meeting book of minutes and book of disci- 
pline to wife of Cous. Jos. Whitall who was 
nominated as clerk to succeed. Till this time 
my house hath been entitled to a book of 
discipline from 6th or 7th mo. 1789 a space 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 183 



1806. 



of 17 years. She was appointed Clerk 5 mo. 

1798 acted 8 years beside having been assist- 
ant clerk. 
11/27. Signed an order for schooling 13 poor children. 
12/10. Keziah Reeves widow of Thos. and mother of 

Benjamin Reeves buried. 
12/15. Had our two hogs killed by Mark Brown wt. 

428 lbs. 
12/31. Had poor Poncy (horse) shot ye P. M. in 23 

year of his age after having him nursed in 

vain. 

1807 

1/ 5. Attended funeral of Rachel wife of Levi Hopper 

late Rachel Tatum an old school mate of 

mine. 
3/15. John Hopper deceased 12th inst. Jeremiah 

Wood dec'd yesterday. 
4/ 9. Sold D. Somers my 61 acres marsh on great Egg 

Harbor river for $100 and leased him my 

adjoining marsh. 
4/1 1. Joshua Hopper deceased. 
4/13- Mother Smith, Dan'l Smiths Sr's wife deceased 

a £ e d 75 Y rs la st month. Funeral at Haddon- 

field on 15th. 
5/29. Pig hunting great part of ye day. In A. M. went 

by way of Jno. Jessup's to Joshua Lords to 

Prouds, Jno Ridgway and Jos. Hinch- 

mans and on my return stopped at Reuben 

Jennings and thence home a little before 1 

P. M. 
5/3°- Joel Wescott, saddler, dec'd. 

Geo. Ward formerly blacksmith son of Josiah 

buried. 
6/ 7. Doctor Thos. Hendry bled me in my arm. 
James Wood Sr. dec'd. 



184 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1807. 
6/21. Friend Benedict Dorsey deceased about a week 

ago. 
7/19. Elizabeth Cowperthwaite finished school keep- 
ing in Woodbury yesterday. 
7/21. A gloomy harvest time from repeated rains. 

Grain cut by farmers but can't haul it in. 
7/28. Attended funeral of Mary Sillard the mother 
of Chas. Ogdens first wife said to be aged 
either 3 years more or less than 100 years. 
8/18. Jno. Lownes deceased in Phila aged 80 odd 

years. 
8/21. All our family unwell of something like influ- 
enza which is a very general complaint. 
9/ 4. Beulah Reeve, widow of Jno. Reeve Junior 
& daughter of John & Sarah Brown de- 
ceased. 
9/ 5. John Glover Sen'r dec'd. 
9/ 7. Jesse Dorman dec'd. 
9/10. Wife of Thos. Clement of Salem dec'd. 

Robert Sparks Sr buried today. 
9/24. Grace Rogers wife of William dec'd. 
10/ 6. Funeral of Wm. Whitall who was drowned off 
Red Bank in a hard gale of wind. Sail boat 
lost. 
10/13. Isaac Ballingers 7 year old son Richard buried. 

Died of lock jaw. 
10/24. Anniversary of our marriage 31 years ago, be- 
ing 10 mo. 24-1776. 
ii/ii. Bought a sorrel horse of Wallace Lippincott, 

$105.00. 
11/22. David Ward dec'd. 
12/11. Mentions Rachel Brown, widow of Robert 

Brown, of Swedesboro. 
12/13. Ebenezer Lummis dec'd at Duncan Camp- 
bells over ye way. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 185 

1808 

2/21. Heard of decease of neighbor Ann Treadway 
widow of Henry, supposed 90 yrs old or up- 
ward, also Mary Hendrickson, Thos Low 
and John Rambo's wife. 

2/24. Abraham Inskeeps wheelwright shop, stuff and 
tools all burned down. Eph'm Millers tailor 
shop near it damaged. 

2/25. Visited our school, 60 scholars of whom 49 are 
writers. 

2/28. This P. M. my precious wife and I went to 
Phila to consult Doctor Caspar Wistar re- 
specting ye disorder in her right eye. 

3/17. Michael C. Fisher and Ann Clement married 
today. 

4/ 5. Uncle Timothy Matlack my mothers half 
brother aged about 75 and his widowed 
daughter Cath. Murray, accompanied by 
Cousin Paul Cooper, came to see us. 

4/10. Jesse alias Josiah Reeves buried this P. M. 

4/17. Daniel Smith Jr. informed me his father de- 
ceased today about noon being 1 year 4 
days after his wife. 
He was born 4 mo. 5-1748 being 66 years old 
on 5th inst. Interred at Haddonfield 19th 
inst. 

4/21. Wrote to ye City Commissioners of Philada on 
behalf of Wallace Lippincott. 

4/22. In Phila Doctor Wister proposed another visit, 
accompanied by Doctor Physic. 

4/30. Describes operation on his wife by Doctors 
Wistar & Physic in Phila. 

5/ 1. Cousin Sam'l Mickle Fox late President of 
Penna Bank deceased yesterday aged 44 
years in 10 mo. last. 

5/ 2. Had corn, cucumbers, squashes and citron musk- 
melons planted. A great and very foolish 



186 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1808. 

parade with Phila Militia in Woodbury act- 
ing a mock fight, etc. 

5/15. Mary Wood widow of Jno. deceased. 

5/17. Another operation on his wife in Phila. 

6/20. Obtained F. Davenports liberty to open a win- 
dow from my stable into his orchard. 

6/24. Sold my undivided moiety of salt marsh to Jno 
Baker for $400.00 surveyed to my grand- 
father Jno Mickle & Jno Alford in ye whole 
754 acres between Great Egg Harbor & 
Middle Rivers. 

6/30. Visited our school late ye P. M., 26 boys & 23 
girls, total 49. 

8/ 3. Describes sting of a bumble bee that put him 
out of business. Called in Doctor Lummis. 

9/ 8. Had a kind of special meeting of Abolition So- 
ciety ye P. M. at Court House to appoint 
representatives to State meeting at Tren- 
ton. Till now we have had no meeting of 
said society since 4 mo 1806. 

9/15. Mentions Red Bank school house. 

9/16. Mary Snowden, daughter of Richard, died last 
night. Hester White, daughter of Jno. 
Moore deceased 2nd day 12th inst. 

9/17. Describes the 3rd operation on his wife's face. 

9/20. Started from Cambden about 4.45 P. M. in ye 
beginning of a thunder gust. 

Note: This is first mention of "Cambden." Two 
days later he mentions ferry at Cambden. 

9/26. Had 40 bushels of apples made into cider at 

Randall Sparks mill. 
9/29. James Whitall Sen'r deceased in his 92d year. 
10/24. Anniversary of my wedding day 32 years since, 

and I am tottering about here yet. 
11/ 3. Sarah Hopkins Jun'r deceased aged 32 years, 
also Thos. M. Potter. 



>>- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 187 

1808. 

11/ 9. We walked around the walls of ye Penna Hos- 
pital which is near her boarding place. (His 
wife's.) 

12/ 7. Attended funeral of Joseph Ridgway a pris- 
oner for debt who died in Jail at Wood- 
bury. The creditors not allowing his body 
to be removed beyond the restricted limits 
of the jail, the corpse was taken to Mark 
Browns house, a tavern, and thence interred 
in his yard, M. B.'s for a time. 

12/11. Elizabeth Whitall, widow of Benj. deceased 
and mother of Joseph and Samuel, deceased 
today. Buried 13th. 

12/27. Sarah Davenport wife of Franklin mentioned. 

12/30. Roger Dicks deceased. 

1809 

1/29. Lawyer I. W. Crane of Bridgetown and his 
new wife Maria, late Alberti, came in and 
stayed a minute or two. 

2/16. John Jessup Jr. & Sarah daughter of John 
Wood married at our meeting today. 

2/19. Deborah Steward, Eliz. Daniels and Beulah 
Steward lodge. 

4/ 3- Annual meeting of School Society and meeting 
of Fire Co. 

4/ 4- Mary Newbold dec'd. 

4/19. This day 30 years ago my dear wife and I came 
to dwell in Woodbury. 

4/20. Hannah Trump went home and took her sis- 
ter Matilda to live with her. 

4/25. Wrote deed from Duncan Campbell to Richard 
Snowden conveying his house and lot for 
$2800.00 consideration. 

At this period he describes the daily condition of 
his wife who is rapidly failing. 



1 88 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1809. 
6/28. Doctor Casper Wister & wife on their way- 
home from Salem to Phila called and staid 
34 hour or more. 
7/ 6. Hester French late widow of Joshua Lippin- 

cott and daughter of Jacob Davis dec'd. 
7/ 8. Sarah Kirl widow, Aunt to Franklin Daven- 
port, deceased. 
7/25. Heard Henry Drinker deceased about three 

weeks ago. 
9/17. Thos Harrison dec'd in Phila. 
Thos Thorn dec'd. 
Son of John Stokes dec'd. 
Wm son of Benj. Clark dec'd. 
9/22. Hannah Hopper (maiden) dec'd. 

After reading Sam'l Mickle's diary, covering a peri- 
od of about 17 years, I felt like one of the many persons 
who dwelt in his home, rather than one of the scores of 
relatives or hundreds of Quaker friends who lodged 
with him while attending the Woodbury meetings, or 
while on their journeys through the town. When on 
the 12th of the 10th mo., 1809, and fifth of the week, he 
recorded that his precious wife had said farewell to all 
the family and friends at her bed side, including Dr. 
Hendry, and had deceased at 5 minutes past one o'clock 
on the following morning and was interred in the 
Friends' burial ground at Woodbury on the 14th, I 
could neither see the diary of Samuel Mickle or the 
paper on which I was transcribing it for genuine tears. 
The sorrow of that old merchant and diarist of Wood- 
bury of a century and a quarter ago was my own and T 
had to cease writing, as doubtlessly he did. I went out 
on my porch and the caressing winds of the Atlantic 
Ocean dried my misty eyes and I soon again returned 
to the task before me. 

11/25. Heard of decease of Peter Reeve son of John. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 189 

1809. 

12/12. Thos Saunders and Cousin Martha Mickle pre- 
sented for marriage at monthly meeting. 
Married 1-18-1810. 

1810 

2/ 3. A steady snow storm. Went in P. M. to An- 
nual meeting of Lib'y Co. Made them a 
present of a Carved Tinder horn in silver 
staples and silver ferrules around each end 
it being said to have belonged to one of ye 
kings of Scotland. It was presented to Na- 
thaniel Evans in England, when he went 
there to be ordained a minister of ye Epis- 
copal Church. N. E. after his return to 
Glos'ter County presented it to my wifes 
father Robert Friend Price. It then having 
a silver chain to it connecting the stopper 
to the little end of the horn but taken off by 
R. F. P's girls to put to teapot lids. 

2/15. Rebecca widow of Joseph Hews dec'd. 

2/25. Ab'm Inskeep's wife interred ye P. M. 

3/ 2. Ephraim Tomlinson dec'd last night. 

3/15. Benj Howell & Joshua L. Howells daughter 
Frances married. 

3/26. Wm Simmons Jr & Rachel R. Richards mar- 
ried. 

3/31. Isaac Ballingers mother dec'd last night. 

5/15. Hope Allen dec'd. 

5/20. Sailor & Hillmans store broken open last night 
and $500 worth of goods taken. 

6/26. Sold 1035 acres on Absecon Beach to Jas 
Leeds for $250. (Now Atlantic City). 

8/17. Elizabeth Bains late Higbee wife of John Bains 
here from New York, lodges. 

8/22. James Clement of Phila deceased while visiting 
his father Joseph. 

8/30. Andrew Barns buried in Presbyterian ground. 



190 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1810. 

9/ 6. Thos. Ashbrook deceased. 
9/13. Ruth Ann wife of Jacob Lindley dec'd. 
10/27. Hannah Clement, widow dec'd Haddonfield. 

Sarah Webster, widow of Sam'l dec'd, New- 
ton. 
1 1/2 1. Mark Brown & Deborah Middleton married. 

1811 

1/13. Funeral of Isaac Stephens. 

5/ 1. Ploughing up stone pavement along street in 

Philada. 
5/ 2. Little Sam'l M. Saunders tied in chair fell and 

was burned so that he died. 
6/ 3. Wm. Griscomb brought account of decease of 

Jedediah Allen Sr. 
6/30. A duel said to have been fought near Glouces- 
ter between two Frenchmen from Philada. 
One of them killed and left on the ground 
this day. 
8/ 1. Elizabeth Watson dec'd. 
8/22. Joshua Howells daughter Rebecca interred. 
9/ 1. Paschall Howell son of Joshua dec'd. 
9/ 3- J os - Hinchmans son Thomas dec'd. 
9/ 4. Elizabeth Paul wife of Sam'l buried. 
10/ 5. Runaway Slave case in Court. 
10/15. A petition in circulation here for the establish- 
ment of a bank at Cambden. 
10/16. Sam'l Packer returned to us again with his 

family from the Miami country. 
11/17. Isaac Wilkins deceased. 

11/18. Chas Stratton & wife late Hannah Mickle left 
for New Salem Ohio. 
Edmund Gibbs dec'd. 
11/28. Mark Clement married Rebecca daughter of 

J. Davis. 
12/ 1. Mary Hammitt dec'd. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 191 

1811. 

12/ 7. Sarah wife of cous Joseph Hinchman Jr dec'd. 
Interred in Old Newton burying ground. 

1812 

1/ 2. Quotes Penna Gazette. 

1/6. Employed John Zane to repair Fire Engine 

House. 
1/22. James Crump buried. 

Trial Wescott dec'd last night at dance at 

Clements Glass Works, 
Thomas Batten dec'd a few days ago. 
1/26. Jesse Chew deceased aged (his gr son Jesse 

son of Nath'l Chew says) upward of 80 

years. Jesse Chew was a Methodist preacher. 
2/13. Funeral of Reuben Hilliard. 
2/22. Mentions military parade which frightened 

horses. 
3/12. Ab'm VanScyver tavern keeper at lower tavern 

buried today. 
3/29. Dr. James Stratton near Swedesboro dec'd this 

morning. 
4/ 3- Wm. Burnett's wood wagon mentioned. 
4/ 6. Amos Collins dec'd. 
4/15. Zephania Brown deceased. 

Mary Glover aged about 84 and her son John 

here. 
4/24. John Redman deceased at Salem. 

Anna Giles dec'd 7-18 last, also wives of Joshua 

Harlan and Geo Austin buried 23 inst. 
5/ 2. Francis Howell widow of John Ladd Howell 

and mother of Joshua deceased. 
6/ 4. A consultation between some members of ye 

Abolition Society on measures necessary to 

be taken with some slave hunters in our 

county, one of their assistants Henry Wright 

being killed on ye night of 2nd inst at 

Guinea Town. 

This is the end of the second volume, 188 pages. 



192 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1812. 
6/ 6. Advertisement for a meeting of this county 

to determine whether Peace or war with 

Great Britain, etc. 
6/ 7. Jno. Clement son of Joseph dec'd 5th day last 

ye 4th inst. 
Invitation to funeral of Rebecca Wells a widow 

lately removed from Woodbury to Phila. 
6/ 9. Isaac Trump & wife & child Maria on visit. 

Hannah Trump informed me her mother in 

law, Alberti deceased 3-28 last. 
6/18. War declared by U. S. against Great Britain 

and her dependencies. 
6/23. Abt 1 P. M. sister Sarah Hinchman, son 

Joseph and her grandchild S. M. Hinchman 

& Mary Eastlack sister of Josephs deceased 

wife arrived. 
8/22. John Allinson dec'd this morning. 
9/ 1. Eli Yarnall & Son died last week of typhus 

fever. Chas Potts deceased this P. M. 
9/ 4. Cousin Sarah Hopkins dec'd. 
9/ 6. Invitation to Funeral of Win, Hugg Sr. 
9/1 1. Heard of decease of Phoebe Pemberton, widow 

of our ancient friend James Pemberton. 
9/15. Jno Tatem Sr. informs me he was born 6 mo 

11, 1739, New Style. 
9/19. Elizabeth Bains late Higbee from New York 

on visit. 
9/22. Sam'l Cooper formerly of Coopers ferry inter- 
red ye P. M. 
9/23. Funeral of James, son of Peter Reeve aged 

about 4 years & 9 mo. 
Robert Sparks (up Mantua Creek) interred 

this P. M. 
9/29. Cousin Joshua Lords daughter Mary came to 

board & school. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 193 

1812. 

10/ 4. An application for leave to inter Josiah Clark 
in Friends ground. Deceased about 6 
o'clock last night. 

10/ 9. Went to Phila ye morning and called on my 
way at Kaighns point to see Joseph Kaighn 
about his method of preventing smoky 
chimneys. 

10/10. Called to see Mary England in her 87th year, 
and Sarah Shoemaker in her 82d year and 
Hannah Trump. Crossed ye Delaware abt 
noon. 

10/11. Patterson Hartshorn was at our meeting and 
told me his old partner Large dec'd last 
autumn. 

10/12. Worried with Electioneers, this time of elec- 
tion. I may say ever since ye Autumn of ye 
year 1769 I have witnessed but little free- 
dom from bodily pain or at least uneasiness 
^ 43 years. 

10/14. Election day. Elijah Garrison who lodges is 
about 55 and never voted at an election in 
his life. 

10/15. Cousin Geo Mickle & Mary daughter of Jona- 
than Brown married at Meeting today. 

10/22. Sarah Test bid us a long farewell and set oft 
to go to her Father Zacheus Tests in ye 
state of Ohio about 5 miles of Chas Strat- 
tons. 

10/26. Sarah wife of Isaac Collins at Chestnut Ridge 
deceased 13th inst. 

10/31. Aaron Hew's boy Sam'l Sharp (late mine) has 
absented himself from masters about one 
week. Justice gave boy choice of returning 
to master or to go to jail. 

11/ 7. Stephen Munson Day, schoolmaster at Haddon- 
field deceased yesterday. 



194 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1812. 

11/ 9. Susanna wife of Levi Hopper Jr dec'd. 

11/17. Wm Hoppers child Deborah dec'd aged about 
5 or 6. 

1 1/24. Judge John Wilkins dec'd. 

11/28. Sarah Harrison wife of Thos Harrison Phila 
dec'd. 

12/ 5. Wm. Rogers of Evesham dec'd to be interred 
to morrow A. M. 

12/17. Wrote ye P. M. copy of extract of Mathiew 
Franklins letter respecting Comfort Collins 
aged 1 01 and Mary Griffin aged upward of 
103 years. 

12/25. Elijah Garrison arrives with his new wife 
Keziah followed by two covered wagon 
loads of household goods 3 of her sons mar- 
ried men and 1 of their wives also her young- 
est and unmarried daughter 6 horses, 3 cows 
and 1 chair. They started homeward to 
Cape May little after sun rise, on 26th. Keziah 
was the widow Wilson, maiden name Daker 
of Hardwick meeting Sussex Co. 

1813 

1/ 8. John G. Whitall & Tacy Wood daughter of 
Marmaduke Wood married last night. 

1/9. Rec'd a bundle of ]/ 2 bound books and pam- 
phlets from my esteemed Friend Joseph 
Clark of Phila by hand of Sam'l Tonkin. 

2/ 8. Thos. Richards & wife Mary late Mary Tom- 
lin & formerly Mary Cooper to lodge. 
Friend Wm Griscomb deceased on 30th ult. 

2/16. Committee for Female School met ye P. M. 
and agreed to employ Sarah West in ye 
upper and Phoebe Williams in the lower 
school. 

2/25. Visited Deptford Free school 52 scholars of 
whom 45 are writers vis. 40 boys & 5 girls. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 195 

1813. 

2/27. Duncan Campbell deceased 10th ult. 

2/28. Richard Matlock deceased ye morning of 
Typus which has spread far & near. Many 
deceased about Chews Landing, Mount 
Ephraim, Camden, etc. 

3/ 6. Wm Matlocks wife near Gloucester deceased. 

3/ 9. At a meeting 7 P. M. at Jno S. Whitalls of a 
few of the inhabitants of Woodbury vis 
Jno Reeve, Nathaniel Todd, Jno S. Whitall, 
Jas B. Caldwell, Chas Ogden, Moreton 
Stille, Thos Saunders and S. M. agreed to 
recommend by an address to Town Meet- 
ing tomorrow An Association for Suppres- 
sion of vice and immorality. 

3/10. Town meeting appointed a committee of about 
50 residents in ye several parts of township 
on ye above mentioned service. 

3/13.. Edward Carpenter deceased of Typus fever. 

3/15. Robt. Correys wife interred in Presby'ns 
ground. 
Paul Troths wife interred at Haddonfield. 

3/16. Jos. Huggs wife Deborah late deceased from an 
overdose of Laudanum as did the Widow 
Hillman who lived at Little Timber Creek 
bridge Tavern. 

3/17. Our Chief Justice Kirkpatrick from New 
Brunswick attending our court this week. 
Lawyers etc are therefore on good behavior. 

3/27. Sam'l Ashcraft, Mullica Hill interred today died 
of Tvpus fever. Thos Wilson dec'd ye 
P. M. 

3/31. Joseph Eastlacks wife late Hannah Kaighn 
formerly a housemate in our young davs 
deceased of typus fever. Joseph Eastlack 
born 7 mo 28 1738 O. S. and his wife 2 
mo or April 21 1741 O. S. 



196 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1813. 
4/1 1. Abijah Collins interred in Frds Burial Ground 

Woodbury to day. 
4/20. Hear Doctor Benj Rush of Philada deceased 
yesterday night of Typus fever. An an- 
cient and useful man in his time. 
4/28. Heard Phineas Lord deceased this morning. 
5/ 3. Heard of Jeremiah Elfreths wifes decease. 
5/ 6. James M. Whitall son of James & Rebecca 

dec'd. 
5/ 8. Samuel Webster Sen'r dec'd. 
5/19. Bought a Wilkins patent fire place in Phila. 
5/27. Haddon Hopkins deceased of Typus fever. 
6/ 8. Cousin Amos Cooper deceased of typus fever. 
8/ 6. Went with Jas. Saunders and son Isaac fishing 
at Woodbury Dam, very poor success. I 
caught but 3 small oldwives. Have not 
been fishing since I fished at Egg Harbour 
when I caught 2 sheepshead a year or 2 be- 
fore I married. 
8/15 Cooper Paul deceased today. 
8/30. Sarah Lord widow of Constantine Lord de- 
ceased in 76th year of age. 
9/14. Jas. Springer deceased last night. 
9/23. John Sharp Sr deceased. 
10/ 4. Doctor Weaver deceased last week. 

Nicholas Wain Phila deceased 29th ult in his 
"]2 year. 
10/12. Cousin Joseph Glover deceased last night. 
10/25. Edward Bradway dec'd. 

11/ 4. Doctor Sam'l Hopkins drew a double tooth. 
11/17. Jos. Eastlack in his 76th year and member of 

Friends society married today Mary of 

about 30. "Let him that thinks he stands 
take heed lest he fall." 
12/ 6. Peter Crim deceased this morning. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 197 

1813. 

12/22. Spent most of ye evening at Court house to 
hear ye winding up of a Trial respecting a 
dead Whale which floated on shore at Ab- 
secon Beach, the trial commenced & Jury 
sitting from ye 15th inst. 

1814 

1/9. Cousin Sarah Glovers son James bro't word 
of ye decease of his grandmother Mary 
Glover widow of elder John Glover deceased. 

1/19. James B. Coopers wife Rebecca and his daugh- 
ter Elizabeth buried in one grave at Had- 
donfield on 17th inst. 
Sarah Ladd, widow of Sam'l deceased this A. 
M. 

1/2 1. Ephr'm Millers youngest daughter Eliza buried, 
of typus fever this P. M. 

2/ 3. James Farrows wife Rebecca deceased. 

2/ 6. John Thackara's wife burned to death and 
house destroyed. 

2/16. Joseph Clements wife Ann deceased. 

3/ 3. Newspaper Information. Died in England Wm. 
Franklin age 82, son of Dr. Benj. Frank- 
lin, formerly ye British Governor of New 
Jersey etc etc. 

3/26. Cousin Ann Blackwood moved into Woodbury 
today. 

4/19. Jas. Matlacks wife Elizabeth deceased. 

4/22. Jno. S. Whitalls daughter Caroline dec'd of 
typus fever. 

4/26. Thos. Scattergood of Phila dec'd of typus inter- 
red yesterday. He was son of Joseph and 
Rebecca Scattergood of Burlington. 

4/28. Preparative meeting — Subscription to raise 
$700 for a wall front of burial ground. Re- 
moval of boards and stones from ye graves 
under consideration. 



198 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1814. 

5/21. Attended meeting of Lib'ry Co to choose Trus- 
tees and incorporate ye Co. Franklin Daven- 
port, Paul Cooper, Josiah Tatum, S. M., 
Thos Saunders, Sam'l Webster, Samuel C. 
Hopkins nominated for trustees. 

5/23. Mentions law passed in 1779 respecting altera- 
tion of road leading thro Gloucester County 
from Salem to Burlington. 

5/31. Went to Phila on business to Doctor Francis 
Hoover lately removed from Camden to 
Southwark near ye Navy Yard. Saw a 74 
gun ship in course of construction. Gate- 
way was guarded by a soldier with gun and 
bayonet. 

6/ 3. Charles Reeve grandson of John deceased. 

The building of a straight stone wall at front 
of Friends Burial ground interfered with a 
dozen graves. Bones were taken up and 
buried in another part. 

6/ 4. Five of Trustees of Lib. Co. signed a deed of 
Incorporation. 

6/13. Wrote a deed, Elizabeth Gibson to Elijah 
Porch. 

7/21. Isaac Bonsall's wife Mary late Hopkins daugh- 
ter of John deceased. 

8/ 5. Samuel Blackwood interred in Presbyterian 
Ground. 

8/ 6. Wm Simmons youngest daughter Hannah 
dec'd. 

8/17. John Cresson (son of Joshua dec'd and brother 
of Sarah Cresson) deceased this morning. 

8/27. Report says British Army have entered ye 
City of Washington burned ye Capitol and 
other public Buildings and the Navy Yard. 

8/28. Jno Pedricks wife deceased. 

8/31. Banks have stopped payment. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 199 

1814. 

9/16. Thos Manns son James in his 16th year de- 
ceased. 
9/23. Between 3 & 400 Burlington Militia in Wood- 
bury on their way to Billingsport Fort. 
Very noisy up and down street and have 
encamped for the night in ye field back of 
my garden in their tents. They left two 
days later. 
9/26. Volunteers in and about Woodbury with their 
Capt. Armstrong left Woodbury ye P. M. 
for Billingsport. 

10/ 6. Job Eldridges wife Tacy interred at Mullica 
Hill. 

10/20. Jos. Miller & Mary Allen Jr. married. 

11/ 8. Michael C. Fishers wife Ann late Clement 
dec'd. 

ii/ii. Elizabeth Tatum wife of Jno Tatum Sen'r de- 
ceased, aged nearly 64. 

11/12. Nurse Mary White, at Gloucester interred to- 
day. 

11/24. Caldwell & Fishers store broken open and rob- 
bed last night. 

1815 

1/ 2. Daniel Bates died of Typus fever. 
1/20. Jas Stetsers wife deceased. 

Caleb Slichter deceased. 
1/3 1. Nathan Treadway, Peter Wheaten Sr. Dec'd a 

few days ago. 
2/12. Report of Peace between U. S. & Great Britain. 
2/15. Nathan Weatherby deceased. 
2/18. Woodbury generally illuminated tonight in 

consequence of peace between U. S. & 

Great Britain. 
2/24. Sam'l Reeve deceased buried at Greenwich his 

place of abode. 



200 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1815. 

2/28. A boy 13 years old accidentally killed at 
Dilks Mill. 

3/1 1. Attended Funeral of Isaiah Ward Jr in 19th 
year. 

3/14. Doctor Eli Ayres wife Elizabeth deceased. Late 
widow of Geo Whitall and daughter of 
Charles West of Timber Creek. 
Jno. Pedrick deceased. 

3/16. Thos P. Clark & Deborah E. Kay married. 
John Wistar, Salem, deceased. 

3/22. Mary Williams informed me she was born in 
1740 last month in ye year. 
Ruth Sparks widow of John Sparks deceased 
aged about 77 years. 

3/23. Heard Cous Jos. Mickles 2nd wife Rebecca de- 
ceased. 

3/28. Jonathan Harker dec'd. 

3/30. Lorenzo Dow at Court House meeting. 

4/ 2. Benj Heritage Sen'r deceased about a week 
ago. 

4/22. Zephania Hopper dec'd. 

5/16. Sam'l Sterlings son Joseph interred in Friends 
Burial ground today. 

5/25. Paul Scull & Hope Kay married. 

7/21. Cousin Henry Rulon deceased. 

7/26. Sam'l Porch Jr killed by lightning near Bethel. 

8/17. Hester Cox daughter of Edward Andrews de- 
ceased widow of Joseph Reeves of Little 
Timber Bridge and lately married to David 
Cox. deceased to day. 

8/21. Elizabeth Hendry wife of Doctor Thos Hen- 
dry deceased. They were married 12 mo 

1774. 
8/22. Amos Collins Jr interred today. 
8/25. Joseph Gibson Sen'r deceased in 92 year of his 

age. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 201 

1815. 
9/15. Jas. Hopkins child Mary aged abt. 7 or 8 yrs, 

deceased. 
9/19. Brick wall began laying on top of stone one in 

front of grave yard. 
9/30. Vendue of some personal estate of Richard 
Snowden who removed yesterday to Phila 
by his daughters Rebecca & Sarah Snow- 
den. 

10/ 1. A Methodist Stranger named Thompson from 
N. Branch of Susquehanna undertook a ser- 
mon for us. 

10/11. Election in Woodbury. 

10/26. Cousin James Mickle dec'd in 68th year of his 
age. He was born 10-26-1747 old style. 
Buried at Upper Greenwich 27th. 

11/ 2. Rebecca Blackwood widow in Woodbury dec'd. 

11/ 8. Hannah Wells, sister of Benj Clouds wife, dec'd. 

12/29. Benj. Turner deceased yesterday. 

1816 

1/4. John Reeve deceased in 87th year of age, born 
3 mo 5-1729. He & wife Jane married 5 
mo 24, 1793. 

1/ 6. Heard Wm Eldridge deceased 1st inst. 

1/8. Cousin Isaac Cooper brought and lent me un- 
asked his great grandfathers John Coopers 
handsome cane with his name and date there 
on viz "John Cooper 1724" insisted on my 
taking it. Hath been in possession of his 
son David (who was my esteemed uncle 
and guardian) grandson Amos and great 
grandson ye said Isaac, son of said Amos. 

1/11. Rebecca Hubbs at meeting. 

2/ 4. Judah Heritage deceased. 

2/ 9. Delaware River froze over last night in both 
channels. 
13 



202 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1816. 

2/15. Heard Henry Sparks formerly of Woodbury 
late of Salem deceased sometime this winter. 

3/ 5. David Chew interred yesterday. 

3/15. A First day school established. 

3/22. 2 Duelists and 21 seconds from Phila fined $25 
each by Court. 

Mentions duel of Livingston and a son of 

Doctor Rush, now insane in the Penna Hos- 
pital. 

4/20. Cousin Sarah Mickle deceased. 

5/ 3. Paper taken off ceiling in my writing room and 
ceiling white washed instead of paper. 

Weather, crops and visits to Phila neighbors & 
relatives and School visits to Deptford omitted, also 
sick spells. 

5/12. David Brown dec'd. 

5/23. Thos. Knight & Mary daughter of Josiah 
Stokes. 

5/26. Thos. Ballinger father of Isaac dec'd. 

5/31. Attended a meeting at ye Academy for the pur- 
pose of forming a Bible Society for Glouces- 
ter County and became a member thereof 
on subscribing 50 cents. 

6/ 4. Aaron Wood son of John & Ann Wood dec'd. 

6/ 7. Beulah daughter of Thos Clark dec'd. 

6/10. Theophilus Gates Itinerant preacher talked at 
Deptford Free School also at Court House 
in evening. 

6/15. Richard Thorn deceased at Camden 4 mo. 27th 
last. 

7/ 1. Mary Wilson, widow of Thos Wilson, deceased 
aged about 70 years daughter of Moses 
Ward Sr or eldest of ye Moses Wards. 
Adilicia Whitecar deceased 3 mo last, widow 
of Benj Whitecar and I think daughter of 
Thos Wilkins. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 



20' 



1816. 

8/ 2. Copied a letter of Jos. Reeve of Mannington 
Salem Co. N. J. on subject of First day 
Schools at request of Jos. Clement. 

8/21. At meeting of Managers for Bible Society for 
this County. 

8/25. Went to Females School, 51 girls of whom 
about 1 doz writers. 
At 1st day Boys School 40 attended, 47 absent 

9/ 7. Became Life member of Bible Society by pay- 
ing to Jos. V. Clark Treas $9.50 in addition 
to 50 cts paid him 5-31 last. 

9/i 1. Wm. Wilson bookbinder & stationer of Philada 

deceased 5 mo last. 
10/ 1. Sold Pied cow last living creature owned bv 
me. 

Archibald Moffett says he will be 86 years old 
20th next mo. 
10/ 7. At meeting Bible Society & Fire Co. 

Pious old black Flora wife of Primus Still de- 
ceased to day. 

10/ 9. Went to Rappapa to see David Hendrickson 
Sr. 

10/15. Lydia Reeve left Woodbury in Stage ye morn- 
ing to reside in Phila together with her sis- 
ter Elizabeth. 

IT/21. Cousins Joseph Mickle and Ann Blackwood 
married today. She removed from Wood- 
bury to Newton on 27th to live in her new 
husbands residence. 

12/ 1. Uncle Timothy Matlack from Philada on foot 
to visit cousin Paul Cooper. Says he don't 
remember when he was born but I suppose 
upward of 80 years ago. 

12/ 3. At Deborah Davenports to see my old friend 
Keziah Howell widow of Richard Howell 
late Gov. of New Jersey. 



204 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1816. 

12/12. Miles Snowden & Cousin Beulah Cooper mar- 
ried. 
12/21. Thos Mann & Rhoda Johnson colored folks 

married. 
12/27. Sarah Gill widow of John Gill Sen'r deceased 

in ye 86th year of her age. 
12/29. Elizabeth Paul wife of Jas. Paul and daughter 

of Dan'l Smith dec'd last night. 
This Dan'l Smith built and owned ye windmill 

near mouth of Great Timber creek. 

1817 

1/ I. Quotes poetry. 

1/6. Maria Imlay late Milnor of Trenton writes pro- 
posing holding a meeting at Woodbury to- 
morrow. 
Planted many trees. 

1/14. Called on Thos Rogers to sympathize on loss 
of his second wife on 5th ult. Just heard 
of it. 

1/19. Funerals of Wm Allen and mother of Thos 
Clark. 

1/27. Walked to see Casper Budd beyond Metho- 
dist meeting house. 

1/28. Jas. Matlack married his late wife's sister 
Keturah Kennedy today. 

1/3 1. Thos Scott dec'd. 

2/15. Thermometer 4 below this morning. 

2/17. Capt. Jno. Hider deceased in his 77th year. 

2/19. Went ye morning on ice in sleigh with Thos. 
Saunders from Joshua Howells at Ladds 
Cove to Phila and returned on ice to Jno. G. 
Whitalls at Red Bank thence over Wood- 
bury creek down home before night. Ice 
said to be 2 feet thick. 

2/25. John Collins of Evesham interred today. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 205 

1817. 

3/ 2. Funeral of wife of late tavernkeeper John 
Reeves, son of Thos. Her maiden name 
West. 

3/ 7. Cousin Sarah Glover widow of Jos. interred her 
daughter Sarah aged 8. 

3/ 8. Sarah Reeves, daughter of Joseph, deceased 
this morning in ye 40th year of her age. 

3/16. Archibald Moffett Sen'r deceased ye morning 
in the 87th year of his age. 
Frequent mention of Friends from various sec- 
tions and abroad at Woodbury meeting. 

3/29. Sarah Inskeep deceased today in 97th year of 
her age. 

4/ 3. Our Woodbury Newspaper Glos'ter Farmer 
No 12 says Isaac Collins printer deceased 21st 
ult. aged 71 years. 

4/20. At Boys 1st day school, 53 scholars of whom 
12 were blacks. 

4/25. Ann Wood wife of John deceased. 

4/27. Amos Peasley from Seabrook in New Hamp- 
shire at meeting. 

4/28. Heard of decease of Robt Haydock of Phila 
and John Guest. 

5/ 1. Visited Michael Loudenslagers at Crown Point 
or Paulsborough. 

5/18. Mathias Aspden at meeting says he was taken 
away from ye country to England at ye time 
of Revolutionary war and kept as a prisoner 
at large and returned to America about 18 
mos. ago after an absence of 40 years. En- 
quired of me after many persons many years 
in their graves. 

5/27. Elijah Davis' wife deceased today. 

6/ 5. Sam'l Paul says he is in his 85th year, born 
1733- 



206 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1817. 

6/15. John Dyer's (Bulls Eye) Tavern took fire on 
roof which was entirely destroyed. All 
pumps near it exhausted. Ye Grand jury 
had just sat down in their room at said 
tavern. 

6/23. In A. M. with Committee of Board of Free- 
holders running out old Balcony house lot 
belonging to John Keen and wife who are 
now in Woodbury. Said committee have 
agreed to give him $20 per foot for each foot 
fronting on ye Street which is 116 ft 3 in 
and to extend as far back as the Public 
Court House and jail lot extends, $2325 
total value. 

6/26. Aaron Woodruff late our States Atty interred 
yesterday. 

6/30. Purchased books for our Library being one of 
the directors. 

7/ 9. Jas Matlacks 2nd wifes mother Kennedy de- 
ceased at his house. Wm Rafferty Presby- 
terian minister preached at funeral 10th inst. 

8/15. Bible Society meeting at Court House. 

9/ 1. Brought out of my vault ye last of my last years 
apples (Bellflower). 

9/ 3. Letters from Ezekiel Harker, Pittsburg, Jno 
Denny Swedesboro, Sam'l Elwell Manning- 
ton Hill, Salem Co. 

9/12. My birthday my 72d year begun. 

9/27. In Philada visited cousin E & A Guests, Leon- 
ard Snowden, Myles Snowden, Sarah Shoe- 
maker, in her 87th year, and Jeremiah Paul 
in his 72nd year. 
10/12. Deborah Steward of Haddonfield interred to 

day, also Elias Ward at Poorhouse. 
10/21. James Wood son of Richard Wood deceased 
at Benj Reeves in Camden. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 207 

1817. 

11/20. Jos Saunders & Maria Ballinger married. 

11/30. Elias Hicks from New York state at meeting. 

12/14. Mickle Whitall son of Jno. S. Whitall having 
lately arrived from Calcutta gave me an 
evening visit. In his 17th year. 

12/25. Reading a book I bought at Auction while an 
Apprentice in Philada. 

1818 

1/ 6. Benj Whitecar, joiner, near neighbor in Wood- 
bury deceased last night. 

1/ 8. Monthly meeting. The religious meetings at 
Chestnut Ridge are concluded to be dropped 
they having been continued several years past 
on trial. 

1/10. Joshua L. Howell deceased, 55 yrs. old. 

1/20. Mary Ann wife of Sam'l Ogden dec'd. 

1/22. Doctor Casper Wistar deceased 

1/24. Isaac Trump on way from Phila to Bridgeton 
called, says his mother is in 86th year. 

2/18. Ann wife of John Shivers dec'd last night. 

2/19. Michael C. Fisher and Mary Reeves daughter 
of Joseph at Redbank married at our meet- 
ing to day, his second wife. 

2/28. Franklin Davenport informed me to day that 
he was born in 9th mo (Sept.) 1755. 

3/ 4. Copied from Jas Saunders piece book a letter 

from my beloved Uncle and guardian David 

Cooper dec'd, to his grand children Sibbee, 

Polly & Sally. 

Solomon Lippincott Saunders dec'd 2nd inst. 

3/ 9. Agreed to lease to Thos Ivins lot No. 15 at 
Laddstown for 15 years at $5 annually and 
he to build a substantial wharf and deliver it 
at end of 15 years for Public landing. 

3/25. Chas Ogdens wife Margaretta deceased. 



2o8 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1818. 

3/27. Elizabeth Hopper daughter of Wm & Mary 
Hopper deceased, aged 14 years. 

3/29. Invitation to funeral of Prudence Kaighn 
widow of Joseph said to be in her 89th year. 

4/ 8. Annual Meeting Bible Society at Academy. 

Rebecca Jones a maiden of Phila interred yes- 
terday in Phila about 89 years old. 

4/29. Rec'd invitation to funeral of Dr Sam'l Hop- 
kins of Phila late of Woodbury son of Jas 
Hopkins. 

5/ 6. John Paul deceased ye morning. 

5/12. Went to Phila bought spectacles at McAllis- 
ters down near ye drawbridge. 

6/ 6. Gave Matilda Alberti large family bible late 
belonging to her Aunt Blanch Price de- 
ceased. 

6/17. Geo Alberti Jr. after a runaway black slave. I 
did not see either of them. 

7/12. 103 in shade. Warmest day since battle of 
Monmouth in the Revolutionary W r ar and 
was warmer than any for 30 years before. 

7/15. Cousin Ann Mickle (3rd wife of Joseph at 
Newton) late Blackwood deceased this A. 
M. Also Amy Ward widow of Nathan de- 
ceased yesterday. 

7/20. Began making index of in ye latter part of 
Book of records of Births and Deaths of 
Members of Woodbury Monthly meeting. 

8/ 4. Levi Lippincott, Evesham funeral. 

8/13. Samuel W. Harrison dec'd at Gloucester yes- 
terday in 56th year. 

8/30. Levi Hopper says he was aged 74 2 mo 17th 
last. 

9/ 3. Funeral of Joseph Eastlack. 

9/12. My birthday begins my 73d year. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 209 

1818. 

9/17. Thos Wood of Phila and Anna Maria Wood 
daughter of Marmaduke Wood married to- 
day. 
Levi Hopper deceased this morning. 

End of diary Book No. 3, 90 pages, 1818. 

On inside of first page preceding Index of 4th 
Book, 9th mo. 20th, 18 1 8, to 4th mo. 24, 1826, is written : 

To my Executors 

In respect to keeping a diary. I have done it for 
my own convenience and satisfaction — Yet I have 
sometimes had thoughts of discontinuing it. But on 
reflecting that I had often found a benefit, thereby find- 
ing divers memorandums of things which (from my 
own poor memory) had been by me forgotten, or not 
known at what time they happened some of which I 
have at times been anxious to know, and had forgot- 
ten I had made any note of, until on looking over I 
found, (sometimes unexpectedly,) an entry thereof, 
which hath, at times, been very satisfactory and bene- 
ficial to me in divers respects. 

But as they will be of little or no use to any person 
after my decease — therefore unnecessary to expose them ; 
— and will perhaps be best to be put in the Fire by my 
Executors amongst other (to them) useless papers. 

12 mo 5, 1823 Sam'l MicklE 

1818. 

9/30. John Fisher of Petersburg in Va. introduced 
to me by Robt. Roe he being brother of 
Sarah Fisher ye first girl my wife and I had 
in our family. He informed me he re- 
moved from here in 1791 and his sister Sarah 
in 1792. 



210 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1818. 

10/ 2. Heard Geo C. Wards wife Deborah dec'd at 
ye Miamis lately. 

10/ 2. At David Allinson's auction of Books at Jesse 
Smiths, Innkeeper. 

10/10. Jacob Seeds wife deceased ye morning. 

10/12. Sam'l Tonkins house burned today. 
Heard Thos Price deceased 3rd inst. 

10/14. Cousin Jos. Whitall Supt of Westown School 
removed there 10-15-1811 returned back 
with family to Plantation today. 

10/18. Martha Hinchman wife of Joseph deceased. 

10/23. Had apple trees white washed. 

1 1/ 7. Joseph Cooper of Coopers Point, Newton de- 
ceased 27th ult. 

ii/ii. Mary Miller wife of Jno Miller and daughter 
of Anthony Allen, deceased. 

1819 

1/28. Thos Knights wife daughter of Josiah Stokes 

deceased. 
2/ 6. Thos Rawlings wife Ann dau of Job Brown 

deceased this P. M. 
2/14. Job Butcher deceased. 

3/ 4. Dan'l Packers blacksmith shop burned down. 
3/10. Called in Dr. Fithian. 
3/1 1. Chas Knight & Achsah Clark married at our 

meeting today. 
3/12. Doctor Dayton Lummis consulted. 
3/19. Deptford School not visited to day by one 

trustee ! 
3/22. Casper Budd deceased in woods. 
3/27. Benj Swett deceased. 

4/ 3. Doctor Fithians father deceased at Cedarville. 
4/29. Joshua Lords Stone house at Mantua Creek 

burnt down today. 
5/ 3. Phebe Brown widow of David buried. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 211 

1819. 

5/ 2 3- Jeremiah Paul buried in Phila. 

6/ 7. Elizabeth wife of Jacob Haines dec'd today. 

6/14. Sam'l Blackwood son of Jno & Ann Black- 
wood interred nth inst. 

7/ 6. Clement Reeve of ye ferry upper side Market 
St Phila dec'd of yellow fever yesterday. 

7/16. Brother Joseph Hinchman, his son Joseph and 
grandson Samuel called. Brother informed 
me he didn't know his own age exactly but 
that he had been informed he was born on 
ye same day on which John Glover de- 
ceased was married. (2 mo 18 day 1751 ). 

y/2y. Resigned my office of Treasurer of 1st day 
School Society and Chas Ogden was ap- 
pointed in my place. 

7/29. Geo Tatums wife deceased ye morning. 

8/ 1. My beloved cousin James Cooper deceased this 
evening aged 65-5-24. My age 72-10-19, 
dif 7-5-25. 

9/14. Got lock to front door repaired at Sam'l 
Stevens, Cutler, Arch St Phila. 

9/15. Attended Funeral of Wm Lawrence late Jailer 
in Woodbury who deceased last night a 
martyr to strong drink. 

9/16. Cousin Chas. Stratton, Hannah his wife late 
Mickle daughter of cousin Jas Mickle dec'd 
and their two children Rhoda & James ar- 
rived here from Ohio left us 11-2. Came in 
1 horse wagon. 

9/18. Thos. Reeves at Clonmell dec'd ye morning. 
10/ 6. Phebe Clark widow of Josiah dec'd. 
10/ 9. Much of ye day spent with ye crowd at ye 
courthouse in hearing witnesses and argu- 
ments in ye case of black Jane Bowyer and 
her four children claimed as runaway slaves 
by Wm Jones of Delaware State who was 



212 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1819. 

lately fined in said state 500.00 for kidnap- 
ping. The blacks were this evening liberat- 
ed but ye 3 witnesses against them im- 
prisoned till further order. One of ye party 
against said Blacks viz. Geo. Deshield 
(after ye court adjourned to dine) made es- 
cape on Jno. Moore Whites horse, lent him, 
to Gloucester & thence crossed ye river to 
Philada tho pursued by three constables. 
For a more particular statement of this 
business see Columbian Herald No. 5 p 2 
Col 2 & etc. 

10/10. The above named slave claimer Wm. Jones im- 
prisoned today on charge of Subornation of 
Perjury. 

10/12. A great northern sky light tonight. 

10/13. This day 10 yrs ago it pleased ye Lord to 
take from me my dear partner of my joys 
and sympathizer in my sorrows. 

10/23. Benj Reeves son of Jos Reeves Sr. interred 
at Biddle Reeves Burial ground. 

10/27. Hannah Tatum wife of John Tatum Jr deceased 
last evening aged 46 years lacking 16 days. 
Buried 29th. 

10/28. Heard Charlotte Wistar widow of Jno Wistar 
deceased 26th inst. 

11/ 6. At a meeting in ye Court house of inhabitants 
of Woodbury to consider of means of pre- 
venting ye court house and other ye public 
Buildings from being removed to Camden. 

ii/ii. Charles son of Geo & Edith Ward and Eliza 
dau of Thos & Achsa Clark married at meet- 
ing today. 

11/14. Jacob Wood formerly teacher in Deptford 
Free School House but latterly near Salem 
dec'd 10th inst in 62 year. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 213 

1819. 

11/17. Doctor Hartshorne of Phila attended me also 

Dr. Joseph Fithian. 
12/18. James Lord son of Constantine & Sarah Lord 

deceased this P. M., in 38th year. 

1820 

1/ 3. Eph'm Daniels wife dec'd. 

1/23. Doctor Thos Hendry's son Thos deceased in 
Phila today. 

2/20. Jos M. Hinchman married to 3rd wife Amy 
daughter of Chas Collins on 10th inst. 

3/16. Clement H Kay (son of Isaac) & Edith Clark 
daughter of Thos. married. 

3/19. Invitation to funeral of Joseph Reeve of Man- 
nington. 

3/ 4. The foundation of Surrogates office in Wood- 
bury begun. 

4/ 5- Went to our jail ye evening to see cousin Jos. 
Whitalls two sons Joseph & Benjamin put 
in for non payment of a military fine of $6.50 
each. 

5/ 3- Win. Tatum sen'r dec'd 1st inst. Joined ye 
procession as it passed through Woodbury 
and walked with it to Presbyterian Burial 
ground. An old acquaintance from lads. 

6/25. Geo Dillwyn deceased 23 inst in 83 year at 
Burlington. 

6/29. Abel Knight & Harriet Wilkins married. 

7/ 5. Isaac Crim deceased today. 

6/18. Ab'm Inskeep deceased last night in 69th 
year. 

7/30. Edith Hickman mother of Hannah died 22 
inst. 

8/ 1. Jane Reeves widow of John deceased today. 

8/20. Rec'd note from cous Sarah Glover viz "J onn 
Glover and Mary was married 18th day of 



214 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1820. 

the 2d mo in year of our Lord 1751." Said 
Jno & Mary were parents of Sarah Glovers 
husband Joseph Glover. Joseph M. Hinch- 
man was born 1 mo 21 day 1785. 

9/ 1. Hannah Allen widow of Jededia Allen of Man- 
nington dec'd yesterday aged 76 yr & n 
mos. 

9/10. Heard Jas Lee late of N. J. dec'd 18th of last 
mo at New Orleans. 

9/1 1. Benj Rulon says he was born 1st mo 14 1761. 
Rusa West he informed me is upward of 80 
years. 

9/21. Wm Tatums wife late Maria West deceased 
ye morning in child bed. 

9/23. Funeral of Benj. Howells son Alfred aged about 
6 yrs from Ladds Cove. 
Mentions Germantown Lane, Woodbury, fre- 
quently throughout his diary, also Fairview. 

10/n. Abel Clement deceased 9th inst. 

10/19. Rode to Black Thos Manns in T. Saunders 
Dearborn wagon. He deceased 20th sup- 
posed to be in 68th year. Pays a glowing 
tribute to the black who was a former slave 
to his father-in-law Robt Friend Price who 
dec'd 8-1, 1782, and set free by his executors. 
Thos Mann was a Methodist and meetings were 
held in his house. 

10/19. Often uses a kind of abbreviated writing using 
capitals only to record disownments, etc. 

n/14. Jacob Davis of Woodstown aged 87 interred 
to day. 

12/ 5. My lumber store also Thos Saunders Store 
broken open last night. 

T2/17. Cous Mickle Whitall bid me farewell. Expects 
to sail from Phila to-morrow for Canton in 
China. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 215 

1820. 

12/25. Heard by Const. Wilkens that Doctor Benj 
Vanleer deceased about 2 mos ago. 

12/26. Read after candle light ye manuscript papers 
respecting ye wars about Woodbury Dam 
in 1754. 

(Probably contention of neighborhood). 

12/30. Joseph Lownes silversmith in Phila lately de- 
ceased. 

12/31. Called to see Joseph Reeves in his 80th year. 

1821 

1/ i. Copied a ragged letter from Jno Woodhull 
dated 10 mo 1774 to the then Margery Price 
who became 10 mo 24 1776 my beloved 
wife. This is the only time he ever mentioned 
his wife's first name. Always writes of her 
as my dear, my beloved or my precious 
wife. 

1/ 8, Refers to act of British Parliament in 1752 
changing calendar 1 1 days. 

1/13. At vendue of Jas B Caldwell and Michael C 
Fisher store goods etc. next door. 

1/22. Sam'l Paul of Upper Greenwich deceased yes- 
terday in ye 88th year of his age born 3-22- 

1733- 

2/20. Mentions accident to Joseph Reeves of Wood- 
bury on way to Redbank was upset near ye 
far corner of ye Deer park on ye old road 
and near ye run on ye side. 

2/20. Benj Clouds son Joseph aged 19 married to 
Jaggard. 

2/24. Sam'l Tonkin in's 85th year deceased ye morn- 
ing. 

2/26. Searched for surveys and drafts amongst Jno 
Alfords old papers in my possession latelv 
belonging to Uncle Jno Ladd dec'd to fur- 



216 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

i 821. 

nish E. D. Woodruff with some materials 
for a map of Gloster Co. He came and took 
such parts of them as I had picked out that 
suited him. 

2/28. Woodbury Herald No. 76 mentions ye decease 
of Hannah widow of Peter Andrews 21st 
inst in her 86th year. Also in No 74 de- 
cease of Elizabeth widow of Joseph Cooper 
in her 81st year, and marriage of L,ydia Mc- 
Carty our late tutoress for females upper 
school. 

3/ 2. Dr. Geo F Albert married Anna Maria Porter 
an old maid of about 32 he 52 dwell at 164 
N. 5 St Phila North side and near Vine. 

3/ 4. Invitation to funeral of Mary Swett widow of 
Benj deceased the 2nd inst in her 83d year. 

3/ 8. David Hendrickson Sen'r at Rappaupa was in- 
terred yesterday and Jas Tallman today. 

3/22. Wm. Hopper moved to Sign of ye Buck tavern 
near ye Windmill to keep tavern and that 
Thos Scott had moved into Wm Hoppers 
house. 

4/ 1. Sarah Branson widow and mother of wives of 
Paul Cooper and Jacob Glover & etc dec'd 
in 82 year of her age. 

4/ 3. Albertus Somers a young man and watch 
maker from Woodstown here seeking to es- 
tablish himself in that occupation in Wood- 
bury. 

4/ 5. Heard another of my old schoolmates Jeffrey 
Clark deceased ye 2nd inst in his 76th year. 

4/ 9. Benj Rulon deceased in Phila this A. M., aged 
60 yr 2 mo 24 da. 

4/27. A great concourse (supposed several thousand 
of people) from city and country men women 
and children parading the streets of Wood- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 217 



1821. 



bury to see ye awful spectacle of Hanging 
black John Gooby on a gallows erected on 
ye meadows next below Friends Burial 
Ground and near ye Bridge — But were dis- 
appointed as ye Governor granted him a 
respite until ye Governor & council meet 
next month. 

6/10. Cousin Martha Allinson says she was born 10 
mo 1747 O S and said Uncle Timothy Mat- 
lack in 1736. 

6/16. Visited Michael Ingleton in his 79th year. 

7/13. Thos Clement of Salem dec'd, brother of Joseph 
Clement. 
Rec'd of Joseph Clark of Phila by hands of 
Jno Pimm of near Woodstown 65 tracts 
containing 10 kinds. Took tracts to Maria 
Ogden, Treas'r 1st day School now and late 
held at Academy. 

7 ' /2y. This evening at Hannah Reeves where I met 
with Deborah Lee widow of James Lee and 
daughter of Chas West late of Woodbury 
dec'd. 
Three cases of yellow fever reported in Water 
near Chestnut, Phila. 

8/ 3. John Gills son a married man killed himself. 

8/ 5. Doct Dayton Lummis deceased last night. 

8/19. Josiah Hews of Phila (brother of late neighbor 
Aaron Hewes dec'd) died on 17th inst aged 
89. 

8/30. Michael Ingleton deceased last night. 

9/ 5. E. Gibson says he was born Sept 17, 1753. 

9/1 1. Susan Shoemaker of Phila entered her 91st 
year last spring. 

9/12. Entered my 76th year. 

10/ 2. Nathan Ball and Atlantic his wife here from 
Ohio 2 miles of Chas. Stratton. 
14 



218 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1821. 

11/ 7. John Tatum Sr. deceased in his 83 year. 

12/13. Joseph son of Jonathan Brown and Margaretta 
daughter of Isaiah Ward married. 

12/14. Black John Gooby who shot black Geo Tiller 
ye 25th 4 mo 1820 Hanged today. Started 
about noon toward ye gallows below Wood- 
bury. A great disorderly crowd attending. 

12/31. Recorded marriage certificate of David Gill of 
Pilesgrove Salem Co. to Rachel daughter of 
Moses Rulon of Woolwich. 

1822 

1/ 7. Journalized and posted books A. M. 

Annual meeting of Fire Co P. M. at Court 
house grand jury room. 

1/30. Josiah Miller of Salem deceased 19th inst age 
62. 

3/1. A meeting appointed by Amos Peasley from 
ye neighborhood of Crosswicks N J for- 
merly of New Hampshire — removed last 12 
mo 3 years to Crosswicks. 

3/13. Town meeting in Woodbury. 

3/15. Wm Oldcroft near Blackwoodtown dec'd this 
morning. 

3/27. Jno T. Glover's Fulling mill burnt. 

3/31. Abigail Richardson late Blackwood wife of 
Thos Richardson Bucks Co Pa deceased this 
morning. 

4/29. Mary Thornbury a maiden in 75th year of her 
age deceased at Jno Moore Whites last 
night. Buried in Friends B. ground at her 
request. 

5/24. Went to Phila called at Dan'l Millers Iron- 
monger N. W. Cor. 2nd & New between 
Vine & Callowhill Admr of Dan'l Rink late 
of Swedesboro. Called to see Sarah Shoe- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 219 



1822. 



maker who enters 92 year on 27th. Heard 
Rachel widow of Daniel Drinker was inter- 
red yesterday aged 92 yrs. 
Was at Jas. B. Caldwells store S. Side Chest- 
nut St wharf also Is. Trumps on N. side 
Marks lane bet 11 & 12 bet Race & Cherry. 

6/3. A letter from J. Higbee, Plumb Creek Indiana 
Co Pa asking if Samuel Mickle is living or 
not. 

6/18. Sarah wife of Isaac T. Hopper deceased this 
day. 

6/26. John Tatum & Anne Biddle married today in 
Phila. 

6/30. Mickle Whitall called bid Farewell expects to 
sail as 1st mate tomorrow for Canton China. 

7/19. Chas Townsend of Phila watchmaker called to 
see me says his father Jno Townsend was 
born 1 mo 10 1748 O. S. Charles about 45 
years old. 

7/29. Ann Cooper Whitall daughter of cous Jno S. 
Whitall deceased this P. M. aged 31 yrs 5 
mo 10 days (born 2 mo 19 1791). 

8/ 4. Attended funeral of Rachel Saunders. 

8/ 5. Mary Reeves widow of Arthur was interred to- 
day in the 90th year of age, also her son 
Arthur deceased to day likewise Bathsheba 
Clayton wife of Edward Clayton also infant 
child of Joseph Saunders. 

8/ 6. Thos Carpenters wife Mary deceased last night 
aged 74 years lacking 33 days. 

8/10. Wm Sailors daughter abt 6 years old deceased 
yesterday. 

8/13. John Stephens dec'd last night aged abt 40 
years. 

8/15. Son of Isaac Doughten abt 7 yrs old and Jacob 
Wilkins interred in Frds ground by per- 
mission. 



220 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1822. 
8/16. Heard Sam'l Coopers widow Prudence at 

Camden deceased 14th inst in her 84th year. 
8/23. Joseph Newbold in prime of life deceased of 

yellow fever this morning. 
Amos Campbell took off ye Shingles on newest 

part of ye house built 1790 side next street 

and put on new shingles. 
8/25. John Brown son of David dec'd yesterday. 
9/ 2. Robt Cooks wife Lydia deceased 31st ult. 

9/ 5. Geo Branner Jr & Hannah dr of Jas Davis an- 
nouncement. Married 10-17. 

9/ 9. Amos Fithian brother of Doctor Jas. Fithian 
deceased this morning. Taken to Bridge- 
ton today. 

9/12. Dr. Thos Hendry deceased this evening aged 
75 yrs last month. The longest an inhabi- 
tant of Woodbury except Mary wife of 
Eph'm Miller and daughter of Jno Sparks 
deceased who was born and continued in 
Woodbury & her husband told me she is 
between 62 & 63 years of age. 

9/13. Beulah Clement widow of Saml Clement sur- 
veyor deceased age 84 years. 
Great drought streams & wells dried up. Much 

sickness. 
Thos Hendry buried in Presby ground. 

9/15. Hannah Newbold widow of Joseph deceased 
last evening. 

9/18. Woodbury Herald gives names of 14 persons 
deceased within a few days past. 

(Files of this paper are in Camden Free 
Library). 

10/ 2. Theodosia Wilkins widow of Jacob dec'd this 

morning. 
10/20. Wm Sailer deceased ye P. M. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 221 

1822. 

10/24. Jno Street. Ann his wife and 2 sons Zadoc & 
Sam'l from Salem Ohio on their way home 
350 miles which they expect to reach in 9 
or 10 days. They reside abt one mile from 
Chas Strattons. 

10/29. Noah Jones interred yesterday. 

Il/I2. In P. M. 7 of ns (of our particular family) 
went to Jesse Smiths innkeeper in Woodbury 
to see ye natural curiosities in his yard viz. 
A Male Lion, 2 leopards, one very Antick 
Baboon, 2 of ye monkey species (very an- 
tick) and an Ant eater, total 7 beasts. 
Adults 25c Children 12*4 cts. 
Wm Harvey deceased this morning in ye 70th 

year of his age. 
Sarah Knight wife of Jno Knight Sen'r and 
formerly widow of Isaac Jones dec'd this 
day in 63 year of her age. 

11/16. Sarah wife of Wm. Beck'et (daughter of Const. 
Lord dec'd) dec'd in 57th year of her age. 

11/18. Set in new lamp post in front of my store. 

11/19. Geo & Josh'a Glover brought to jail for mili- 
tary fines today were liberated by Jacob 
Glover this evening. 

n/21. Tho Knight and Rebecca Andrews daughter 
of Benajah married at meeting. 

11/28. Dav'd Tatum dec'd yesterday in 40th year at 
Wilmington. 

12/14. Jno Pissant deceased 10th inst in his 68th 
year. 
Frequent mention of distant Friends at meet- 
ings. 

1823 

1/ 2. John Fords wife interred. 
1/ 9. Dan'l Harper son of Geo. and Sarah Suns dr. 
of Stephen & Sarah Sims married. 



222 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1823. 

1/15. At appointed meeting for Elias Hicks of Jeri- 
cho Oyster Bay Long Island. 
At Annual meeting of Lib. Co. & took out 7 
Vol. 

2/ 6. Jos Ogden & Lydia McCarty married. 

Sam'l Bassett & Mary Ann Craft married. 

2/ 7. Martha Tatum deceased this morning, late Jno 
Tatum Sr's house keeper. 
David Ward interred. 

2/12. Mary Allen deceased last night in her 79th 
year, widow of Anthony dec'd. 

2/22. A celebration of Washington's Birthday. 

A debating society has been occupying upper 
room in Deptford Free School for some 
time at nights without his knowledge. 

3/ 5- Joshua Haines surveyor dec'd on 26th ult. Rev. 
Dr. Andrew Hunter formerly a resident in 
Woodbury deceased, at Washington City, 
formerly a Presbyterian minister and a 
teacher or schoolmaster at ye Academy in 
this place. 

3/ 7. Judith wife of Wm. Pine deceased this morn- 
ing. 

3/ 9. Cousin Elizabeth Gibson deceased this morn- 
ing in 70th year of her age, also cousin 
Martha Allinson of Burlington in the 76th 
year of her age, daughter of my beloved 
uncle and guardian David Cooper. 

3/19. Thos Redman senior deceased last evening 
in 81st year of his age. 

4/ 2. Thos Wilkins deceased 31st ult. 

4/ 7. Annual Meeting Deptford Free School Society. 
I having been continued a Trustee 43 years 
successively viz. from ye annual meeting in 
1780 till this time except twice in ye fore 
part of term in 1783 & 1784 and also Treas- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 223 



1823. 



urer 39 years successively viz. from 1784 to 
this time. When from my advancing years 
now in my 77th year and my many infirmi- 
ties and sensible of my increasing incapa- 
city I now (this with some reluctance) with- 
draw both as Trustee and Treasurer, etc. 
On the next day he delivers to his successor 
school minute book, Deeds and Parchment 
Constitution, loose papers, etc. 

5/ 3. James Jaggard deceased ye 1st inst. 

6/13. Jno. Pearson of Battentown father of Jas. Keens 
wife informs me James Keen dec'd on 8th 
inst. 

6/23. David Eldridge (uncle of Hannah Wood widow 
of Zachariah) deceased 19th inst in 91st 
year. 

6/29. Chas Townsend of Phila son of my fellow ap- 
prentice Jno Townsend says his father was 
born 6th 1 mo 1748. 

7/ 6. Cousin Mickle Whitall on short visit, will 
soon sail for Hamburgh in ye Ship America 
Isaiah Eldridge Captain. 

7/10. This P. M. ye house and lot formerly belong- 
ing to Aaron Hewes late dec'd and wherein 
his widow Jane and her late husband Jno 
Reeve resided, was by Exer. of Josiah Hewes 
dec'd sold at Vendue and bid off by Doctor 
Jeremiah Foster at 2000.00 and that greatly 
under its worth. I say 5000 value. 
Sic transit gloria mundi. 

7/15. Have been reading a good old book late be- 
longing to my mother Lettitia Mickle dec'd 
wherein she had wrote ye time of my birth. 

7/22. Sarah Crim widow of Peter Crim dec'd yester- 
day. 



224 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1823. 

7/22. Makes frequent record in his diaries of Frank- 
lin Davenport representing him in Chancery 
cases at Trenton. 

3/ 1. Rec'd by stage piece of wedding cake. 

Wm. Yarnall Jr. & Angelina Matilda Alberti 
married 25th inst. 

8/ 3. Enoch (18 or 20) son of Sam'l Sterling de- 
ceased. 

8/ 4. Recorded in Thos Knights family Bible his 2 
marriages his 2 wives births, children dc. 
& decease of 1st wife. 

8/ 6. Attended funeral of Ira Aliens son Joseph 
aged 14 yr 3 mo 22 days. 

8/14. Asher Brown who built ye southerly part of 
my present dwelling and who removed to 
Ohio 19 years ago attended our meeting to- 
day. His wifes brother is Geo Ward. 

8/17. Hannah Hickman deceased. Don't know her 
married name. 

8/18. Enoch Toinlinson moved his family back again 
to Phila today. 

8/20. Sam'l Hudsons father John Hudson interred 
to-day. 

8/23. Isaac Mickle Jr. son of Isaac deceased yester- 
day. 

8/26. Jacob Haines of Upper Greenwich dec'd. 
Daniel Elliott of Phila dec'd. 

9/ 5- Jonathan Knight dec'd. 
David Sharp dec'd. 
John Baxters wife dec'd. 

Benj Small woods wife, of ye Toll Bridge at 
Newton Creek, dec'd. 

9/ 7. Funeral of Joseph Reeves, son of Biddle dec'd 
and Brother of present Biddle. 

9/ 8. Epm Millers son Nathan dec'd. 

9/25. Funeral of Mercy Whitall. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 225 

1823. 

9/26. Josiah Stokes wifes mother Mary Borden or 
Borton [Spelled both ways in diary] de- 
ceased last evening aged 84 years. 
Also Michael Mcllvanes wife and David 
Porchs child. 

10/12. Apollo Woodward interred today Frds Burial 
ground. 

10/17. Susana Ward daughter of Isaiah Ward dec'd. 

10/28. Cousin Thos Saunders interred ye A. M. in ye 
row. 

10/29. Joseph Clement deceased ye morning in 87th 
year. 

11/ 3. Catherine West now of Mt. Holly made us a 
short visit informed that her aunt Rusa West 
sister of Jane Reeve deceased on ye 25th of 
8 mo last. Had entered her 85th year born 
4th or 5th mo 1739. 

11/ 4. Robt. L. Armstrong's child Eleanor aged abt 4 
years deceased ye day. Also Jno Sparks. 

11/ 5. Jacob Glovers wife Mary deceased ye morning 
in her 48th year. 
Esther Smith of Salem married today to Doc- 
tor Robt. Moore of Maryland. 

11/ 6. Chas Middletons of Phila married to Ann 
daughter of Thos Clark. 
Attended funeral of Mary Glover. 
Stacy Hazleton here today. He and Jacob son 
of John Lippincott are adm'rs of estate of 
Robt Cook dec'd each married a daughter 
of Robert. 

11/ 11. Went to Phila came by way of English's ferry 
at Camden. 

n/16. Visited John Wood born 85 yrs ago 9th mo 
last. 

11/16. Jeremiah Andrews deceased about 2 weeks ago. 
Wm. Wallace dec'd 14th inst. 



226 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1823. 

11/19. Michael L,oudenslager dec'd 6th inst in 66th 
year. 

1 1/2 1. 3 Black men whipped for stealing a Turkey. 

12/ 5. Aaron Hewes dec'd in 1789 now upwards of 
34 years since. Refers to book bought at 
vendue of his personal estate. 

12/ 7. Mickle Whitall makes brief call before sailing 
for Gibraltar. 

12/ 9. Benj. Allen at Carpenters Bridge deceased yes- 
terday. 

1824 

1/4. Invitation to funeral of Jonathan Brown who 
deceased this morning in his 76th year. 

1/13. Sheriff Col John Baxter dec'd this P. M. 

2/ 4. Election in Woodbury today for Sheriff in 
room of John Baxter dec'd, 4 candidates 
viz Enoch Doughty of Egg Harbor, Chas 
C. Stratton, J. Hinchman and John P. Van- 
neman. I voted by ballot for Chas C. Strat- 
ton I not having voted for 30 years I sup- 
pose. 

2/ 5. Short meeting. Isaac T. Hopper of Phila mar- 
ried Hannah Atmore yesterday. 

2/10. The new Sheriff Enoch Doughty qualified to 
execute his office. 

2/19. At Cousin Jas Hopkins ye P. M., his daughter 
Beulah informed me that cousin Hannah 
Fox in Phila deceased 8th inst in ye 76th 
year of her age. 

3/ 8. Jos. Saunders child Gilbert aged abt 3 months 
dec'd. 

4/17. Sam'l Shute of Indiana & wife Sibyl daughter 
of Robt Cook dec'd and Sarah wife of Stacy 
Hazleton, said Sam'l & wife on way home 
to Indiana called. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 227 

1824. 

4/25. Invitation to funeral of Sarah Reeves at Kaighn 
Point widow of Clement Reeves, daughter 
of John Wood wheelwright, interred tomor- 
row in ye Burial ground near Biddle Reeves. 
4/28. Elizabeth wife of William Lippincott deceased 

in Phila last night. 
5/ 4. Deborah Davenport deceased this P. M. in her 
64th year. 

Two marriages: 
Benj Sheppard and Mary Saunders dr of Jas 
Saunders and Wm. Ballenger to Beulah 
Ward dr of Isaiah Ward, Benj and Mary 
Sheppard removed to Greenwich Cumber- 
land Co. 
5/19. Two children of Joseph D. Pedrick dec'd. 
5/25. James Dorman cabinet maker in Woodbury 

deceased this morning. 
6/ 9. Richard Tittermany of Swedesboro, Rope 

maker formerly of Phila deceased aged 71. 
6/12. Matilda Yarnall late Alberti, lodges. 
6/16. Jno W. Tatum late of Woodbury now of Wil- 
mington married 10th inst to Mary Canby 
daughter of Sam'l Canby of Wilmington. 
6/19. Had my 4 Raisors and 3 Penknives ground by 

traveling raisor grinder. 

7/ 2. Went to Phila called at 60 N. 2 to see Sarah 

Shoemaker in 94th year thence to Mary 

Stewart 27 N. 2 to get a leghorn hat, called 

at Jno S. Whitalls 244 R ace St. Heard 

Joseph Scattergood dec'd 27th ult. 

7/ 3. Heard Mark Low son of Thos dec'd yesterday. 

7/13. Took my watch to Albertus Somers watch 

maker to have main spring replaced. 
7/17. Lydia Reeve daughter of Peter Reeve dec'd 
and grand daughter of Jno Reeve made me 
an acceptable visit. 



228 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1824. 

7/17. Sam'l Richards said the water gage at the hos- 
pital rose 4 & 6-10 inches in consequence 
of great rain on 29th ult, and Jas Saun- 
ders said it was 4 1-3 at Woodbury dam. 

8/ 3. Sam'l Saunders wife's father Archibald Mof- 
fatt deceased this morning. 

8/1 1. Jacob Lippincott son of Solomon dec'd & 
Lydia died on 8th inst aged about 70 years 
at Evesham. 

8/14. Wm. H. Reeves son of Sam'l & Hannah Reeves 
of Redbank dec'd about 2 yrs of age. 

8/15. Thos Clarks wife Rachel, Doctor McCalla, 
John Wood, Sarah Scott, Josiah Franklin, 
Sam'l Hudsons wife and 2 children all ill. 

8/17. Doctor Wm H. McCalla dec'd last night, to 
be interred at Greenwich Cumb Co tomor- 
row. 

8/19. John Wood dec'd aged about 86 years. In- 
terred 20th at Marmaduke Wood's ground. 

8/21. Joseph Mickle of Newton is to be interred to- 
morrow. 

8/23. Jas. Saunders son Joseph dec'd this morning 
aged nearly 16 years. Application made for 
David Carsons son aged abt 3 years to be 
buried in Frds Burial Ground. 

8/24. Jas. Richie's child Henrietta dec'd this morn- 
ing also Jas. Carry at ye stillhouse lot dec'd 
ye A. M. 

8/25. The Woodbury Herald of ye day says Charles 
Thomson in ye 95th year of his age dec'd 
23 inst. He was Secretary to the Congress 
of the U. S. during ye whole period of the 
Revolutionary war. 
Great preparations contemplated for ye recep- 
tion of General Lafayette and son George 
Washington Lafayette as they may visit ye 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 229 



1824. 



several parts of ye U. S. they having lately 
arrived at N. York from France. 

8/26. Visited by Margery Mickle Hopper and Ruth 
Bassett daughter of Nathan Bassett of Wil- 
mington. 

8/29. Benedict Dorsey son of Benedict Sr. who de- 
ceased about 14 years ago and Edward 
Hicks attended meeting. 

8/30. Jno Justice from Falls mo. meeting near 
Trenton at meeting Sam'l Webster and 
Geo. Craft borrowed a great coat for him. 

8/31. Wrote Letter to Rachel R. Simmons at Porto 
Rica. 

9/ 2. Painted my 2 largest O'l Cloths for ye floor 
in ye back part of my big parlour for winter 
season also ye leather to carry wood on. 

9/ 4. Jer. J. Fosters son dec'd this being the 2nd. 
viz Clement and Theodore D. 
Hear John Drivers agreeable wife deceased 
yesterday. 

9/ 6. Jno Johnson lately buried his wife and three 
children all he had. 
Wm Dyer deceased about 7 inst at Sweedes- 
boro. 

9/10. Chas Ogden dec'd this morning had entered 
his 72 year last month. 

9/15. Aden Craft passed thro Woodbury on stage to 
his fathers. 

9/17. Isaac Ballenger sick also daughter Priscilla. 
Sarah Scott continues ill, Sam'l Hudson's 
youngest child. Wm. Fifer and 3 children 
sick, Henry Roe's wife sick. 
John Derrickson Swedesboro deceased yester- 
day. 
Josiah Stokes daughter Lydia and John Duf- 
fels wife sick. 



230 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1824. 
9/20. Elias Deacon Woodruff deceased at Trenton 

yesterday in ye 38th year of his age. 
9/24. Isaac Ballenger dec'd. Will be greatly missed 

in our neighborhood. 
9/30. Mary, widow of Joseph Eastlack interred in 
Friends Bur'l grounds. 
John Hunt of Evesham lately dec'd. 

10/ 3. Sarah Scott deceased aged 70 yrs 3 mo last. 

10/ 7. Invitation to funeral of Mary Jessup only 
daughter of Jas. Jessup aged about 23 years. 

10/13. My beloved wife this day 15 years left her soli- 
tary husband and went to Heaven her 
home. 

10/17. An invitation to funeral of Elizabeth wife of 
Reuben Jennings who deceased last night. 
It was the custom at Friends' meetings to extend 
invitations to funerals. 

10/17. Ep'm Heritages wife dec'd. 

10/18. Thos Clark here ye P. M. and took away 
Clement & Edith Kays marriage certificate 
and informed me his daughter Edith intend- 
ed to apply at the next sitting of the Legis- 
lature for a Divorce from her husband )'e 
said Clement H. Kay and that he was some- 
where in ye back parts of New York State. 

10/18. Daniel England's funeral at Swedesboro. 

10/19. Joseph Reeves (son of Thos dec'd) dec'd yes- 
terday at his residence in Clonmell. 

10/23. Sam'l Saunders daughter Mary aged 5 or 6 
years deceased ye morning. 

11/ 4. At meeting where a petition was signed to ye 
Legislature to counteract another petition 
to establish a Race ground in this State. 
Invitation to ye funeral of Elizabeth wife of 
Ambrose Ewing. 

11/10. Capt. Wm Yarnall Jr & wife late Matilda Al- 
berta arrived by stage and lodge. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 231 

1824. 

11/14. Invitation to ye funeral of Keziah wife of 
Isaac Collins late Chew daughter of Job 
Kinsey dec'd. 

11/17. Doctor Jer. J Foster's daughter age 13 mo 
dec'd. 

11/18. Benj Blackwood & Mary Ann Hopkins mar- 
ried at Haddonfield. 

11/20. Joseph Reeve dec'd last night aged 83-4 mo- 
9 d buried from his son in laws Michael C. 
Fisher 21st. 

11/25. Prep Meet'g no business except the reading 
a minute of Prep't've meeting of 2 mo 1767 
and rules then made presenting ye terms 
of admitting persons not in membership 
with Friends for interment in Fr'ds Bur'l 
grounds. Sam'l Webster now appointed in 
room of Isaac Ballinger late dec'd as one of 
the standing committee of 3 for that pur- 
pose. 

11/26. Doctor Jos. H. Erwin Swedesboro deceased yes- 
terday morning. 

1 1/27. Jno. T. Glover, fuller deceased last evening in 
ye 71st year of his age. 

12/ 1. Joseph Garwood plastering tenement. 

12/ 3. Mentions acct. against Dr. Francis Hover. 

12/10. Went to Phila. Cousin Thomasin Roberts 
widow of George Roberts and daughter of 
Joseph Fox deceased about three weeks ago. 
James M. Glover married to Mary S. Dough- 
ten yesterday. 

12/12. Mickle Whitall came ye morning staid about 
y 2 hour and bid farewell for about 16 months 
absence he expecting to sail as Captain in 
a large New Ship in about a week hence for 
Liverpool and from thence to Canton. 

12/14. Martha wife of John Shivers dec'd. 



232 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1824. 

12/21. Ira Allen expects to remove to ye neighbor- 
hood of Lake Ontario near Buffalo. 

12/29. Sarah Reeves widow of Joseph (& formerly 
widow of Job Whitall and daughter of Jno 
Gill Sr. of Haddonfield) dec'd this A. M. 
Aged 73-7 mo- 1 day buried Woodbury 
Friends ground. 

1825 

1/3. This P. M. a meeting held at Court House to 
devise means to counteract ye Camdenites 
in respect to removal of Court House and 
other public buildings from Woodbury to 
Camden. 

1/13. Isaac Mickles son Benj'm & Ann Blackwood 
married this day at Haddonfield. 

1/21. Hinchman Haines' son Hinchman and Priscilla 
Warrington late from & residents of ye 
State of Ohio and daughter of Ab'm War- 
rington of said place and Hester Warrington 
of near Moorestown daughter of Henry 
Warrington all dined here today. 

1/25. Went to Deptford upper school in company 
with Patience, widow of Thos Sparks to in- 
troduce her and 3 sons Josiah, Robert & 
Samuel to ye teacher Thos Booth. 

1/30. This P. M. wrote for cous Geo. Mickle a memo 
respecting Births & deaths in ye compass of 
Upper Greenwich Prep meeting. 

2/ 4. Most of ye day drawing a/c of deficiencies in 
births and deaths on record for Woodbury 
monthly meeting. 

2/ 7. Gave Dr. Fithian liberty to make and burn a 
Brick kiln on my triangular lot bo't of Jno 
Tatum. 

2/ 8. Election at Squancum today respecting Re- 
moval of ye seat of Justice from Woodbury 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 233 



1825. 



to Camden. Election to be held at Wood- 
bury tomorrow. 
James Stephens brother of ye late Rachel Saun- 
ders dec'd was interred this day at family 
Burial ground. 

2/ 9. Election day in Woodbury to determine 
whether ye seat of Justice be removed from 
Woodbury to Camden. Gave my vote in 
favor of its continuance at Woodbury and 
Friends very generally gave their votes in 
favor of Woodbury. A very general elec- 
tion to which ye sick lame and blind were 
bro't forward. 

2/10. Election Return at Egg Harbor gave to Cam- 
den a majority of 159 votes. Total vote in 
the County 4160. Majority for Woodbury 
876. But 8 votes in Deptford in favor of 
Camden. 

2/14. Bought of Enoch Allen merchant tailor of 
Phila tenement lately occupied by his brother 
Ira Allen. Leased it to Sam'l Johnson. 

2/17. Sarah Cooper (widow of Amos) deceased 
this A. M. also heard Nathaniel Buzby Mau- 
rice River dec'd 10 mo-ioth last. 

2/18. Cous. Hannah Whitall informed me her father 
John Mickle deceased when she was about 
15 months of age viz. in 5th mo 1774- Her- 
self born 2 mo- 1 3 da 1773. 

2/21. Drew 2 lists of deficiencies or such as are not 
yet recorded in ye records of Woodbury 
mo meeting viz. Births & Deaths 1 for each 
Prep meeting. 

2/23. Cousin Mary wife of Wm Glover & dau of 
cousin Sam'l Mickle deceased this morn- 
ing aged 48-41110-7 da. Also Benj Carpen- 
ter, Cedar Cooper, dec'd. Also Rachel Al- 
15 



234 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1825. 

len daughter of Anthony & Mary Allen dec'd 
this P. M. aged 55-10 mo-4 d. 

3/ 1. Josiah Clark deceased last night. 

3/ 2. Our village Herald says George Alberti Jr 
Constable was shot on Tuesday week (or 3 
day 22 ulto.) near Haddonfield in an at- 
tempt to arrest a fugitive slave. 

All through his diaries he, S. M., describes the ail- 
ments and causes of deaths. He had many callers and 
made constant visits and records names in great num- 
bers. I do not repeat names more often than neces- 
sary.— F. H. S. 

3/ 8. Chalkley Glover married 3d inst. 

3/16. Village Herald of this date says. "Died at his 
residence at Mays Landing on Wed. last 9th 
inst. Colonel Richard Wescott in ye 92 year 
of his age." But agreeable to what he told 
me a few years ago he was but in his 90th 
year viz. 89 years & 4 mo of age. 

3/25. Jno Cooper and Abraham Anderson colored 
men employed by him. 

S. M. had several books of receipts for making 
all kinds of cures for various diseases and frequently 
writes of his work and uses of his own drugs and com- 
binations. — F. H. S. 
3/31. Richard Snowden of Phila formerly of this 
town deceased last evening. 
Richard Jordan lost his wife about three weeks 
ago. 
4/ 4. Made 1 qt of best ink. [It was a fine ink judg- 
ing from his diary, still unfaded]. 
4/ 7. Howard Abbott & Susan Stokes married. 
4/ 8. Drew letter of Atty appointing Zebulon Wolf 
to ye care of my Swedesboro business he to 
collect and pay me ye ground rents and he 
to receive ten per cent for his trouble. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 235 

1825. 

4/ 9. Mary Hopper wife of Wm Hopper (late Mary- 
Saunders daughter of John Saunders dec'd) 
deceased this evening aged 46 yrs 1 mo. 
She came to reside in my family when about 
7 years of age & continued therein until 
she married Wm. Hopper, then 24 yrs of 
age, in my family about 17 years. 

4/10. Eli Stratton from Ohio lodges. 

4/20. Executed to Zebulon Wolf letter of Atty to 
transact my business at Laddstown. 

4/24. One of our Woodbury Lawyers Robt Pearson 
deceased last night. 

5/ 3. Cousin Isaac Mickle deceased in Camden in 
his 68th year. 
Went to Phila visited Zollicoffs medical store 
N. E. cor Pine & 6th St. Anna Guest in- 
formed me that her sister Elizabeth was 
born 7 mo New Style 1749. 
He always visited E. & A. Guest when in Phila. — 
F. H. S. 

5/ 5- J no Knight and Mary Lippincott married to- 
day at Upper Greenwich. 

5/ 7. Rec'd First report of Provident Society for ye 
employment of the Poor, also a copy of ad- 
dress delivered before ye Philada Society for 
Promoting Agriculture at its annual meet- 
ing on ye 18th Jany 1825, by Roberts Vaux. 

6/ 5. Adin Craft deceased yesterday. 

7/ 6. Joseph Justice brick mason in Philada fell 
from Scaffold last week and died. 

7/20. Josiah Eldridge, Evesham, dec'd 15th inst. 

7/24. Cousin Jos. Whitall informed me his cousin 
Sam'l Cooper (stiled General Cooper) near 
ye lower bridge over Raccoon Creek de- 
ceased yesterday to be interred ye P. M. 
He was ye son of Robert Cooper who used 



236 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1825. 

to farm for Uncle Jno Ladd deceased. Said 
Robert Cooper and Benj Whitall ea mar- 
ried a daughter of John Hopper dec'd, said 
J. H. dwelt on ye farm whereon Benj. Lord 
now resides. 

7/29. Sam'l Hudsons sister Sarah Hudson dec'd this 
A. M. 

8/ 2. Attended funeral of Dan'l Packers child aged 
about 3 years. James Gibsons wife Hannah 
deceased last night. 

8/ 3. This days Herald says "Died at Bridgeton 23 
ult. General James Giles in ye 67th year, 
formerly an inhabitant of Woodbury." 
Thos. Clements wife Rachel deceased this morn- 
ing. 

8/10. Ann Lawrie widow of Thos Lawrie interred 
7th inst. 
James Freeland dec'd about 2 months since. 

8/1 1. Am informed by Jesse Owen that his father 
Joshua Owen deceased last 3rd mo. 

8/14. At meeting, Hannah widow of Zaccheus Test, 
daughter of Joseph Reeves dec'd from ye 
State of Ohio last Autumn, on visit she says 
they removed from ye neighborhood about 
20 years since and that her husband dec'd 2 
mo 2d 1819. 

8/23. Wm. Hopper dec'd. 

8/31. Abigail Woodruff widow of Elias Deacon 
Woodruff and daughter of Sam'l Whitall re- 
moved yesterday to her fathers in Mary- 
land and from thence intends removing to 
Trenton. 
This days Herald says on ye nth inst deceased 
Elizabeth widow of Jno Driver aged 90 
years 2 mos and on ye 27th inst Josiah H. 
Middleton son of Aaron H. Middleton dec'd 
late of Woodbury. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 237 

1825. 

9/ 4. Attended at ye house of Doctor Sam'l Howell 
in Woodbury ye funeral of his child which 
was interred at Newtown. 
9/12. Entered my 80th year. 

9/18. Ann Roe wife of Robt. Roe born 7 mo 12 1791 
dec'd this morning. 
Sam'l Webster having at several times disputed 
my calculations respecting ye old and new 
Stile and he calling in to see me ye even- 
ing I showed him Poor Richards Almanac 
for 1752 wherein is the British Act of Par- 
liament for changing the Old Stile to ye 
new. When after some altercation he con- 
cluded my calculation to> be right viz. ye 12 
of 9 mo New Stile to be my birth day being 
born 7 mo 1 1746 Old Style. 
9/27. Uriah French dec'd today to be interred in 

Frds Burial ground tomorrow. 
9/28. At funeral of Uriah French. 
9/29. Attended at ye house the funeral of Elizabeth 
wife of Daniel Fortiner Blacksmith in 
Woodbury. Interred at Haddonfield. 

10/ 1. Cousin Jas Mickle here from ye State of Ohio 
accompanied by Benj Shreeve of said state 
whose residence is abt i l / 2 mile distant from 
Chas Strattons residence. 

10/ 2. Thos Matthews & Othniel Alsop from Philada 
attended our meeting. They and 2 of Wm. 
Folwells sons dined. 

10/ 9. Mary wife of Marmaduke Wood dec'd today. 

10/10. Jas Glovers wife Mary daughter of Isaac 
Doughten dec'd this morning. 

10/18. James Saunders informed me that Sarah Shoe- 
maker in Philada widow of Jonathan Shoe- 
maker my old mistress also that his fathers 

old master were both interred 

last 4th day. 



238 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1825. 

10/18. S. Shoemaker born 5-31-1731 N. S., therefore 
aged 94-4111-3(1, or in her 95th year. 

11/ 3. Went in Dearborn wagon to Philada called at 
Thos Shoemakers son of Sarah Shoemaker. 
Her daughter in law Susan Shoemaker in- 
formed me her mother in law Sarah deceased 
on 1st day morning, ye 9th ult etc. Called 
to see Wm Folwell & wife between 6th & 
7th St. 

10/10. This morning delv'd to Cousin Josh Lord a 
letter & a basket with a 2 gallon jar for 
him to take to Salem when going to Quar- 
terly meeting to be sent thence to Jos. Stew- 
ards* for Honey abt 6 or 7 miles. 

10/14. Cousin Anna Mickle dec'd. 

10/16. Wm Yarnall Sen'r and his daughter in law 
Matilda late Alberti and her child Edwin 
aged about 4 months. Said Wm Yarnall 
had never been in N. J. but once before 
about 50 years ago. 

10/20. Sarah Wright a young woman from about 60 
miles dist from Phila grand daughter of 
Eunice Starr took T. last evening. 

11/22. Again spoke Franklin Davenport in street re- 
specting Chancery business and signified to 
him my thought of employing another At- 

ty. 

11/28. Amos Peaslee & wife and daughter before & 
from meeting also Sarah Cresson, Eliza- 
beth Pitfield & Thos Evans son of Enoch 
Evans. 

12/ 1. Went with Benj Cloud to view my lot, lately 
purchased of J no. Tatum. 

* There are scores of various entries similar to above. This one 
is copied because it probably refers to my grandfather, Joseph Stew- 
ard, of Salem Co.— F. H. S. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 239 

1825. 

12/ 7. Woodbury Herald says Jno Frith dec'd 30th 
ult in's 69th year. 
Peter Wheaton was interred today. 
Black Jno Cooper gone off to sea again. 
12/11. Invitation to Funeral of John Ward's wife 

Hannah. 
12/16. George Wards son Charles dec'd ye morning 

in's 29th year. 
12/21. Benajah Andrews deceased this A. M. exactly 
57 years old, born 12-21 -1768. 
Woodbury Herald says on 5th inst Jesse 
Sparks in Gloster town in 50th year of his 
age and on 14th inst his widow Abigail 
Sparks deceased in 57th year of her age. 
12/26. Heard Henry Bradshaw of Upper Greenwich 
deceased some time last Autumn and his 
son Moses dec'd yesterday. 
From meeting came Hannah wife of Is'c Steph- 
ens his son Isaac, daughter Hannah and his 
wifes sister Mary Weatherby etc. 
Wm Lippincott of Upper Greenwich deceased 
this morning aged 70-2 m-12 d. 

1826 

1/ 2. Edith wife of Geo Ward dec'd age 55-1 mo- 
il d. 
Rachel Wilkins daughter of James Wilkins 
(many years dec'd) commonly known as 
Nurse Williams deceased this morning. 

1/ 4. Woodbury Herald mentions that Lydia Sweeten 
near Swedesboro dec'd 26th ult aged 104 
years. 

1/5. Jacob Glover married to Sarah Kay widow. 

1/14. Ambrose Ewing deceased today interred in 
Frds Burial Ground 15th. 



240 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1826. 

1/15. Hannah Reeve widow of Peter dec'd last night. 
She lived with Aunt Hannah Ladds family 
and we in our early life were house mates. 

1/30. Sam'l Leeds of Egg Harbor attended our 
meeting yesterday. 

2/ 1. Woodbury Herald says Dec'd near Pedrick- 
town 1 mo 25 last Asa Kirby age 73 and sud- 
denly at Haddonfield John Reeves 29th ult. 

2/ 2. Geo. M. Campbell son of Amos dec'd tonight in 
his 2 1 st year. 

2/ 3. Hannah wife of Dan'l Y. Packer dec'd this 
morning. 

2/ 8. Sent for my Woodbury Herald and word 
bro't back no paper all sick. 
Josiah Franklin married ye evening. 

2/ 9. Woodbury Herald says Out of four (4) persons 
employed in this office not one has been capa- 
ble of doing a days work during ye past 
week and at this time one of our men lies 
dangerously ill the rest are in a state of Con- 
valescence and among other deaths says 
"In Gloster town on 1st day last Sarah Henry, 
widow of David in ye 75th year of her age." 
I also add she was a schoolmate of mine at 
Gloucester to an Englishman David James 
Dove at which time I resided with my Uncle 
John Mickle about 1 mile from Gloucester. 
Elizabeth 2nd wife of Biddle Reeves dec'd this 
A. M. 

2/10. Sarah wife of Sam'l B Lippincott deed 9th 
inst. 

2/12. James B. Caldwell deceased today. Interred in 
Presbyterian ground 14th. 

2/16. Sam'l Ballengers wife Mary Ann deceased ye 
morning. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 241 

1826. 

2/16. On answering ye Annual Queries What min- 
isters & Elders have dec'd & where. The 
following were reported Joshua Owen 
Pilesgrove dec'd 3 mo 8-1825 in's 78 year. 
Asa Kirby same meeting 1-25, 1826 in's 73 
year. Hannah Kirby widow of Asa 1-28- 
1826 in 75th year. 
James Freeland Salem monthly 6 mo 7 1825 in 

69th year. 
Lydia Baner Cape May 10-19-25 in yS year. 

2/18. David Perce's wife Martha & Isaac Murrays 
wife Hope interred this day. 

2/21. Robt Roe's daughter Sarah Ann deed ye even- 
ing about 8 or 9 ye'rs of age. 

2/22. Woodbury Herald amongst other deaths says 
on ye 14th inst Joshua son of Richard Mof- 
fatt in 21st year. On 30th Rebecca widow of 
Sam'l Kille. Same day Charlotte wife of 
Lewis Green. 

3/ 7. Thos Githens of Haddonfield interred 25th ult. 

3/21. John Sterling house carpenter dec'd ye P. M. 

4/ 8. Nurse Ann Reeves here ye P. M. Aged 85 
years last month. 

4/24. Heard Isaac Collins late of Chestnut ridge 
dec'd ye 21st interred yesterday P. M. at 
Woodbury aged 84-5 23 da. 

One hundred and eighty ( 180) pages in Book No. 4. 

From 9 mo 20 1818 

to 
4-24-1826, inclusive. 

BOOK 5 

1826. 

4/30. Elizabeth Lord daughter of Constantine Lord 
dec'd, deceased ye P. M. 



242 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1826. 

5/ 2. Ann Lord daughter of John Lord left us on 
her way home accompanied by Cousins 
James Mickle, James Lord, son of Joshua 
Lord, and his daughter Mary. 

5/ 3. This days Herald says John Sparks formerly 
of this town a revolutionary Capt. deceased 
the 30 ult in ye 70th year of his age. 

5/12. Dr. Sam'l P. Griffith Phila deceased this A. M. 

5/21. Cousin James Hopkins deceased this A. M. 
To be interred at Haddonfield tomorrow. 

6/ 4. Jos Franklin's only son ab't 9 mos of age de- 
ceased yesterday. 

6/14. Woodbury Herald of ye date mentions decease 
of Wm Griffith of Burlington, 7th inst 
lawyer and clerk of supreme Court of U. S. 
also ye decease of David Somers ye 10th 
inst. 

6/16. Jno Allen & Wife Elizabeth and her widow 
sister Ann Sleeper, here from Otsego 70 
miles beyond Albany, said woman being 
daughter of Thos. Cooper formerly of this 
place. 

6/23. This morning Thos. Chapman informed me I 
am to be called upon by ye Court to prove 
Ebenezer Manns father Thos Mann was a 
free man. I therefore went to ye Clerks 
office and took a memo from ye Record of 
his manumission. 

6/26. Benjn Ladd, Hester French both Elders and 
Elisha Bates and Rebecca Updegraf both 
Ministering Friends here at Mo. Meeting 
from Ohio. 

6/27. Jacob Medara, carpenter, deceased P. M. 

6/29. Went to Dan'l Harker's about 4 miles from 
Mullica Hill thence to John Gill's at his 
Grist Mill head of Raccoon Creek. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 243 

1826. 
6/29. Dined at Mark Brown's Innkeeper at Swedes- 

boro. 

7/ 4. A great parade and noise today in Woodbury 
celebrating ye Jubilee of Independence or 
50th year. 

7/13. Thos Jefferson & Jno Adams both late Presi- 
dents of U. S. and Jeptha Abbott a Metho- 
dist Minister all deceased on ye 4th inst. 
The 1 st in his 84th year and 2nd in his 91st 
and ye 3rd in his 73d year of age. 

7/17. Jno Dawson father in law of Wm Rambo de- 
ceased ye morning aged 79-9. Interred in 
Strangers Burying Ground. 

7/19. Phineas Buckley aged 84-4-17. Elder from 
Phila at Jas. Saunders. 

7/21. John Sharp formerly of Woodbury now of No. 
317 Second St. called. 

7/25. Rebecca Thornton white washing my pale fence. 

8/ 5. John M. Gibson deceased ye P. M. his sister 
Sarah being absent buried in Presb'y Bur'l 
ground. Permission to inter in Friends Bur- 
ial ground refused. 

8/13. Invitation to funeral of Sarah West at 4 P. M. 
at house of her son in law Jas. Jessup. 

8/23. Black John Coopers wife Dinah deceased this 
A.M. 

8/29. Cousin Sarah wife of Jno. S. Whitall deceased 
aged 59-9- 2 9- 

9/ 7. Lydia Saunders at Evesham widow of Solomon 
Saunders mentioned. 

9/1 1. Henrietta Harker married Jeremiah Haines. 

9/12. My Birth day commenced my 81st year. 
9/20. Woodbury Herald says died on 4th inst., in his 
67th year EHsha Clark 25 years Clerk of Glo. 
Co. Court but for 20 years resident of Phila. 



244 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1826. 

9/26. John Jessup of Evesham (son of Jno. and Eliza- 
beth Jessup dec'd) deceased last night. 
9/29. Heard Edmund Weatherby deceased 25th inst. 
in 63 yr of his age. 

10/ 4. Getting down my stove wood from wood house 
loft into lumber store. 

10/11. Election in Woodbury. 

10/13. This morning 17 years since my dearly beloved 
wife departed this life. 
My cousin Mary Allinson of Burlington, Han- 
nah Matlack of New York (daughter of uncle 
White Matlack) and Hannah Whitall wife 
of Joseph visited me y 2 hr. 

10/14. It appears that said Cousin H. Matlack's and my 
grandfather was ye same person viz. Timothy 
Matlack, Brewer of Haddonfield and that she 
hath no other 1st cousin beside me in ye 
neighborhood. 

10/14. Richard Jordan of Newton died aged 70-9-28. 

10/30. Rachel Simmons wife of Wm. arrived at Phila 
from Porto Rico yesterday A. M. 

11/13. Sam'l Webster with a petition to our Legisla- 
ture to incorporate Woodbury Fire Co. on 
short visit. 

11/16. About noon came Wm. Folwell's wife Rebecca 
from Phila to see me and said she expected 
her husband to call for her shortly, they being 
on their way to his Brother Nathan Folwells 
at or near Mullica Hill. 
Jacob Mull also called. 

11/23. Heard Phineas Buckley deceased yesterday. 

Cous Jno. Mickle and Ann Stokes to be married 
12/7. 

11/28. In Phila at Thos. Van Dykes No. 18 Gaskill St. 
by ye New Market. At Thos. Simmons, Jr., 
83 Wood St. M. Fisher's & Son No/ 58 
Chestnut St. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 245 

1826. 

12/ 5. Thos. Schumo watch maker of Phila, Sam'l 

Ladd an Egg Harbour man, Cousin Jos. 

Whitall, Benj. Cloud and Abel Clement all 

here at different times today. 
12/14. Thos. Shipley and Eydia Elliot both of Phila 

married today. 

1827 

2/ 8. Dr. Sam'l Howell intends to remove to Prince- 
ton next month. 

2/12. This P. M. walked to ye tenement late of Thos. 
Mann dec'd to see whether it was occupied 
and by whom. Found therein Black Rachel 
wife of Wm. Mifflin (ye latter a runaway 
slave and now again absconded for fear of 
being taken up) and 2 or 3 black children also 
Adam Chester a black preacher ye husband 
of Hannah formerly Peterson lately married 
all colored people. On my way there called 
to see Isaac Cheesman who told me he was 
born 2 mo. Feby 22, 1752. 

2/15. Herald says Jedediah Allen and Hannah daugh- 
ter of Sam'l Abbott married 7th inst. and 
Thos. Borton and Elizabeth Lippincott 8th 
inst. Matilda Yarnall resides at No. 9 Cherry 
St. Phila bet 3 & 4th Sts. 

2/23. Dan'l J. Packer married to Eliza Jones widow 
of Noah Jones this eve'g. Her maiden name 
Cole. 

2/2.J. Was up stairs in ye Court House this P. M. and 
had several shocks of electricity in ears, neck, 
shoulders, arms, etc. for rheumatism etc. by 
Doctor Crane. 

3/ 2. Took another electric treatment minutely de- 
scribed. 



246 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1827. 

3/ 4. At Cousin Sam'l Websters to see Beulah Snow- 
den and also met there with Rachel Mickle 
daughter of Isaac Mickle late dec'd ; was also 
at Dan'l J. Packers. 

3/21. Thos. Carpenter here today. 

4/ 1. Went to see poorly, Reuben Jennings at his son 
in law Aaron Pauls, late ye farm of Thos. 
Scott dec'd now Wm. Coopers farm. 

4/ 6. This P. M. at ye widow Elizabeth Dawsons who 
is in trouble over ye marriage of her son 
John on 15th ult. 

4/1 1. Todays Herald says Wm. Mickle was married 
in Phila ye 3rd inst to Charity Turner. 

4/12. Sam'l Sterlings wife Martha deceased this morn- 
ing. 

4/18. Woodbury Herald of this day proclaims Josiah 
R. Andrews married 12th inst. to Achsah 
daughter of David Cooper at Haddonfield. 
Same day at Woodstown Wm. Carpenter, Jr. 
of Mannington to. Hannah daughter of Gid- 
eon Scull deceased. 

5/ 1. Susannah widow of Wm. Tatum deceased in 
88th year, born 10 mo. Oct. 1739. 

5/13. Caroline daughter of Jno. Cade Jailor dec'd in 
her 17th year. 

5/18. John G. Whitall, Red Bank, deceased last night 
aged 44-10-10. 

5/23. Eliza widow of Charles Ward daughter of Thos. 
Clark deceased at her fathers this morning 
aged 29-0-25. 

5/27. Ann Reeves on visit and t'd in her 87th year. 

6/16. Cooper Wells brother of and partner with Rich- 
ard M. Wells (they occupying ye store be- 
longing to cousin Sibyl Rulon) deceased this 
morning buried Friends Burial Ground 17th. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 247 

1827. 

6/17. Mickle Whitall on short visit arrived in Phila 
13th inst from Canton in China. 

6/24. Nathan Bassets wife Sarah deceased last 9th 
month, this from Margery M. Hopper. 

7/ 1. Describes Canal Phila to Reading and Maiden 
Creek 84 bridges and 37 locks fare $5.00 one 
way besides diet lodging at tavern 12^2 cts. 
Trip made by M. M. Saunders. 

7/ 4. Favored in Woodbury with stillness but not so 
favored at Sweedesborough this frolicking 
day. 

7/14. Wm. Yarnall to follow his Brig to New Castle 
bound to the Brazils South America. His 
wife continues with us yet. 

7/17. Joseph Garwood and brother John arrived here 
to day to whitewash. 

8/13. Uncle Timothy Matlacks daughter Catherine 
Murray residing with her father about 11 
miles from Phila accompanied by Hester 
Matlack daughter of Ab'm Matlack residing 
about 1 mile this side of Moorestown said 
C. Murray aged 60 yrs. last 4 mo. grand 
daughter of Timothy Matlack of Haddonfield 
visited today. 

8/15. Herald says on nth inst Margaret Treadway 
aged nearly 90 years dec'd nth inst. 

8/17. Sam'l Johnson (my tenants) wife Minerva de- 
ceased yesterday. Interred at Presby Burial 
ground. 

8/20. Deborah wife of Mark Brown at Swedesboro 
deceased this A. M. Interment at Wood- 
bury said Deborah was daughter of Jas. Whit- 
all Jr. and formerly widow of Aaron Hewes 
Middleton. 

8/21. In Phila at Jno. Townsend, Jr. where father 
Jno. Townsend Sr. deceased 3 mo. 8 last in 
his 80th year. 



248 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

1827. 

8/28. Letter from Matilda Yarnall says her brother 
Charles Alberti dec'd last week aged 35 years. 

9/ 1. Jos. Saunders child Rebecca Ann dec'd aged a 
little over 1 year. 

9/ 3. Cousin Sam'l Mickle Jr. and wife Rachel gave 
us a visit thence to his fathers. 
Engrossed my will. 

9/ 4. Visited ye P. M. by Nathan Burnett and wife 
Rachel daughter of cousin Sam'l Mickle Jr. 
who T'd. 

9/ 7. Cousin Sam'l Mickle Jr. and wife left us ye A. 
M. on their way homeward about 45 miles 
from Phila said S. Mickle born 12 mo. 4- 
1780. 

9/13. At a fire in Woodbury ye roof of Jos. Saunders 
Blacksmith shop formerly Isaac Ballengers 
part burned off. 

9/23. Heard Sam'l Richards brother of Sarah Saun- 
ders dec'd in his 66th year. Also John Lan- 
caster wife Hannah dec'd about 2 weeks 
since. 

9/25. Was ye P. M. at Capt. Benj. F. Baches to which 
place my stove was now removed from my 
lot No. 4 and but 6 joints of pipe including 
the elbow. 

Mentions Deptford school house yard : "the desolate 
forlorn deserted house affected me sorrowfully. 1 some 
years ago never expected to see it in such a deplorable con- 
dition." 

10/ 5. Two of the daughters of Nathan Bassett viz. 
Elizabeth and Beulah being home on a visit 
say their mother Sarah deceased 9 mo. 15 
1826 aged nearly 56 years. 
N. B. She was the daughter of John Saunders 
dec'd. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 249 

1827. 

10/ 8. Doctress black Rhoda Mann belaboured my rheu- 
matic right shoulder and arm. 

10/10. Election yesterday at Squancum and today at 
Woodbury and I gave my vote ye P. M. for 
such candidates in council and assembly as I 
judged were not favorable to General Andrew 
Jacksons being promoted to the Presidency 
of the U. S. next year. 

10/10. Richard Wells married Ann M. Laycock. 

10/25. Jno. V. Clark of Paulsboro dec'd the 22d inst. 

11/25. Elizabeth and Lydia Reeve daughters of Peter 
Reeve dec'd and Sarah Stephens daughter of 
Isaac Stephens tutoress in ye dwelling house 
of Josiah Tatum and Mary and Ann Cooper 
daughters of Cous. Wm. Cooper in Co. at 
John Tatums. 

11/27. With Michael Carpenter and Brother Sam'l this 
A. M. 

12/ 2. Benj. Sheppard and wife Mary and child Letitia 
Miller Sheppard aged 8 weeks this day. 
(Letitia being ye name of my mother) called 
about 10 A. M. 

12/12. Moses Watson who come to live with me in 
1783 now resides about 2 miles distant from 
Haddonfield says he was born 5 mo 11 1772. 

12/13. Jno. Comly seceeder preacher appeared in lengthy 
discourse. 

12/20. Benj Dunham residing about 8 miles beyond 
Carpenters landing will deliver 40 m. plaster- 
ing in about 2 weeks at $2.25 per M. 

1828 

1/ i. Ann wife of Henry Roe dec'd last night aged 
67-2-27. 

1/ 7. In P. M. at fire Co. meeting and Fire Assn meet- 
ing being ye 1st fire association meeting since 
16 



250 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1828. 

said association was incorporated. Appoint- 
ing officers etc of ye association. 
1/26. Cousin Josiah Tatum with a petition or remon- 
strance against opening of ye navigation of 
Woodbury Creek. In or about 1754 (1764 
over 1754) a dam was erected and navigation 
stopped about which this neighborhood was 
in a great ferment on the said occasion. 

Much about seceders and separatists at this period 
of his diary. 

2/ 5. Dr. Jer. J. Fosters wife dec'd this morning. 

3/ 2. Cousin Esther wife of Wm. Miller dec'd yester- 
day aged 50-4-4. 

3/ 6. A seceder wedding at meeting today viz. Sam'l 
Ogden and Martha daughter of Sam'l B. 
Lippincott Orthodox Friends withdrew. 

3/27. Chas. Hopkins and Lucy Hugg married today. 

4/26. In ye Friend of this date is an acct of decease of 
Pattison Hartshorn aged 84 years with whom 
under ye firm name of Hartshorn & Large I 
when following store keeping used to deal 
for dry goods. Also an acct of decease of 
John Morton in ye 89th year of his age. 

6/ 2. Biddle Reeves dec'd this P. M. aged 61-7-28 born 
10 mo 4-1766 interred in family burying 
ground. 

6/16. Keturah 2nd wife of James Matlack, and sister 
of his first wife Elizabeth, deceased she being 
from home on a visit to her sister ye widow 
of John Kelly. Buried in Presby. B. ground. 

8/19. Executed deed for Susanna Sin grandmother of 
Thos. Schumo. 

8/26. Sarah wife of Amos Peaslee dec'd about 5th day 
morning. Her husband in ye state of Ohio. 

9/ 3- Joseph V. Clark and David Whitall's wife Ann 
deceased. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 251 

1828. 

9/10. Sarah Wood widow of Jas. Wood dec'd this 
morning aged 70-3-6. 

9/12. My birthday commencing my 83 yr. 

Mary Caldwell daughter of James B. Caldwell 
deceased this day. 

9/20. A meeting today at ye Court House for ye pur- 
pose of forming a Society to be called A 
Moral Society I suppose chiefly designed to 
discourage horse racing. A race ground of 
a mile in circumference being made near 
Swedesboro as I was this day informed. 

9/24. Lydia Brown daughter of Jonathan dec'd aged 
30-10-29. 

9/26. In Phila. Cousin Geo. Fox deceased about 10 
days ago aged 69 years. 

10/11. Big tavern near Court House sold at my suit to 
Peter Rambo. 

10/18. Sarah Cresson and Sarah Folwell dr of Wm. 
Folwell arrived from Phila in stage and 
lodged. 
Complains often of inability to hear. 
Mahlon Skill and Elizabeth Dawson married. 

10/19. Deborah Cooper daughter of Wm. and grand 
daughter of Benj. Cooper interred at Wood- 
bury. 

10/22. Job. Coles deceased at Mt. Holly on 9th inst 80 
yrs. old according to Herald. 

11/ 2. Read Dr. Sam'l Emlens Jr. diary in Friend Vol. 
2. (S. M. was one of the original subscribers 
to the Friend. F. H. S.)- 

11/17. Hannah daughter of Josiah Stokes deceased at 
Howard Abbots aged 17-6-20 buried from 
her fathers house. 

11/22. Howard Abbott deceased last night. (He in- 
variably gives the cause of death. F. H. S.)- 

11/28. Mary Wescott deceased yesterday 27th in 72 
year of her age. 



252 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

1828. 

12/ 2. Jno. Ladd Howell buried Friend B. grd. 

1829 

1/2. A large congregation (said to be) to hear Elias 
Hicks hold forth. 

1/ 6. Champion Atkinsons wife dec'd. 

2/ 2. Mary daughter of Cous. Jno. and Ann Mickle 
dec'd age i-4-8d. 

2/1 1. Barzilla Jeffries, Peter Townsend, Mary wife 
of Jos. Brown and Elizabeth Reeve lodge. 

2/19. Hope Stokes wife of Josiah dec'd age 57-1-9. 

3/ 5- Wm. Paul and Mary Ann daughter of Thos. 
Thorn married today at Hicksite Upper 
Greenwich. 

2/25. Sam'l Wilkins moving from Haddonfield to 
Woodbury to ye tavern lately occupied by 
Jno. Dunham. 

4/20. Elizabeth Mickle going with Wm. Armstrong 
and wife and Hester Jones to Ohio to see her 
sister Hannah wife of Charles Stratton. 

4/22. Herald says deceased on 4th inst. Timothy Mat- 
lack in his 99th year. 

5/15. Cousin Sophia 2nd wife of Cousin Sam'l Mickle 
deceased 3rd day last 12th inst. aged 76-3-1 1. 

5/27. Herald says dec'd on 22 Sam'l Wood, Esq. 

6/ 4. Great noise by militia parading down and up 
street. 

6/ 5. Mary Ann wife of Tilly Brown died at her 
fathers Ephm. Millers aged 31. 

6/ 8. Francis Howell wife of Benj. Howell at her 
mothers Ann Howell died in 38th year. 
Rebecca Powell of Phila maiden name Milnor 
grandmother of Thos. Schumo's wife up- 
wards of 50 years an undertaker in Phila 
visited me. 

6/1 1. Heard Sam'l Carpenter of Phila deceased. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 253 

1829. 

6/26. On looking over our grave yard fence toward ye 
grave of my beloved wife brought to my mind 
what she told me that as she and Amy Hun- 
ter were riding past the Presbyterian Burial 
ground in which Andrew Hunter's wife Ann 
lay interred "Ah Nancy you lay quietly there 
while I am racked with anxiety for your chil- 
dren" which caused ye following soliloquy 
Ah my beloved wife thou lays quietly there 
while I am racked with pain and indisposi- 
tions. 

6/29. Stubbed his toe and dropped ink stand and ink. 

7/ 3- Juliann wife of Jno. Moore White deceased this 
morning. 

7/ 4. Sam'l Hopper in his 17th year son of Wm. 
Hopper dec'd and apprenticed to a silver 
smith in Phila called to see me. 

7/1 1. Ann wife of Richard French of Ohio 2 miles 
from Chas. Stratton stopped on her way to 
Salem, N. J. her native place. 

7/13. F. Davenport on his way by stage to Camden 
to take steam boat to Trenton to attend to my 
chancery business there. 

7/14. Geo. Wards daughter Edith deceased last night. 

7/19. On my way to sil't meet'g stopped short time at 
James Saunders, his wife poorly and not at 
meeting. Rainy between 3 and 5. No thun- 
der. 

This is the last entry in the wonderful diary of 
Sam'l Mickle. A strong unshaking hand straight and 
clear, despite all the infirmities he mentions and the medi- 
cal concoctions he took and the physical falls off chairs, 
down stairs, etc., Sam'l was a wonderfully clever old 
Quaker. Liberal and honorable, faithful and true, active 
and industrious, may his weary bones and restless spirit 
have the peace he craved while on this twirling globe. 

F. H.S.July 25, 1917. 




ANCIENT TREE AT GLOUCESTER 

The West Jersey Proprietors for the County of Gloucester have 

met annually on this spot since 1688, when the Council of 

Proprietors of West Jersey was organized. 

This tree is standing (1917) on the river bank about 50 feet south 

of the foot of Market Street. 

SKETCH BV FRANK H. TAYLOR IBI7 



Job Whitall's Diary* 

Job Whitall, son of James and Ann Cooper Whitall, was born 
I 010.-27-1743, and died 9 010.-11-1797. 

Job Whitall was a son of James and Ann Cooper 
Whitall, who lived in the old brick mansion still stand- 
ing near the Red Bank monument visited by our Society 
last June. His diary, now in possession of Louis W. 
Whitall, contains a great deal more of interest than is 
mentioned here, especially genealogical data, and is 
another example of history that has never been copi- 
ously copied or published. 

Job had the patience of Job of Old and the extracts 
made here from his diary certainly fail to show the 
slightest exasperation at the confiscation of his things by 
British and Continental soldiers alike. Harassment from 
all quarters was his portion, and while he ignores the 
famous battle of Red Bank he throws a great deal of 
light on the doings of the soldiers and the military con- 
ditions prevalent in Old Gloucester in 1776-7. 

On Feby. 7, 1776, he received of Joseph Whitall one 
hundred Continental dollar bills. 

Feby. 24 he mentions that The people began to 
muster this day. 

May 6. The alarm guns were fired betwixt twelve 
and one of the clock which occasioned great commotion 
amongst some of the people. 

On May 8th he heard a cannonading with the row 
gallies and a man of war or two which lasted three 
hours or better. The people getting in arms as fast as 
possible. The next day he heard the cannon firing the 
most of the afternoon and evening. 

Oct. 8th. Brother John Whitall and Thomas Saun- 
ders set off for New York to see Brother Benjamin 
Whitall at ye Camp. 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 



256 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Benj. Whitall made application to Committee of 
Safety Jan. 10, 1776, for a command in Col. Maxwell's 
regiment. Benjamin Whitall was a Second Lieutenant 
in Artillery Co. formed March 2, 1776. He was subse- 
quently promoted to be a First Lieutenant and later Cap- 
tain Lieutenant. 

Oct. 1 8th. He gave Barbara Down four dollars 
that brother John Whitall brought from Charles Spen- 
cer at ye Camp. 

Nov. 29. He records: Bob Taylor came here to 
strain our goods and because he could not go all over 
our house he got in a passion and went away without 
anything, he threatening to fetch a file of musketeers to 
scare us I suppose. 

Dec. 10. I got a good deal of pork of ye market 
people, they being scart and turned back by accounts that 
ye English soldiers were coming to Philadelphia or near 
it. I paid them all. On Dec. 14 he went to the Phila- 
delphia Market and got to Austins ferry (Arch St.) be- 
fore daylight and sold his marketing when market open- 
ed. 

Jan'y 20th, 1777. Thomas Denny and John Sparks 
sent for cousin Thomas Redman and committed him to 
gaol, but he had his liberty to go home and come next 
morning, which he did. 

Jan'y 21. Squires sent for Cousin Mark Miller 
again and I went to see how it went. They wrote his 
mittimus and ordered Ellick Mitchell to take him to 
gaol but Ellick gave him liberty to stay to dinner and 
when over he took Cousin Thos. Redman and Mark 
Miller to gaol. 

April 16, 1777. Went down to Father Whitalls to 
make a haul with his seine but there being three or four 
hundred soldiers there we thought not to fish but we 
made one haul and caught one shad and two or three 
other fish. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 257 

April 19. Some of the soldiers went away and 
more came this day. 

Aug. 8. A number of ye militia came in to Wood- 
bury and took possession of our meeting house. 

Aug. 15. Ye soldiers came back this day and went 
into our meeting house again. 

Aug. 16. While I was at Fathers, John Porch ye 
Constable came there and demanded a fine from Brother 
John Whitall, and I had an opportunity to see what 
mine was. There were two against me, one fine was 
£ S D 

126 

Costs 2 6 

Ye other fine 100 

Costs 2 6 

And against my man John were two more, one 

17 6 

Costs 2 6 

Ye other 15 o 

Costs 2 6 

£ S D 

Ye whole 450 

Aug. 19. Jehu Ward came here in a passion and 
demanded me to go over to brick house tavern before 
Sparks and Denny or I should be sent for by ye author- 
ity. After a little pause I went over to the Squires and 
they not being in Jehu and I walked into a private room 
and by having some conversation his passion began to 
cool and he concluded to go no further in it and he 
seemed to be very friendly when we parted. 

Sept. 2, 1777. I went to Gloucester Gaol to see 
Thomas Edgerton whom Sparks had put in for not 
taking ye test. 

Sept. 5. Militia had their discharge this morning 
and ye bigger number went home. A number of girls 
went to washing and cleaning ye meeting house. 



258 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Sept. 13. Ye Militia had filled our meeting house 
and school here and several other houses ye fore part of 
week. 

Sept. 20. Jehu Wood drest a number of horses 
and wagons today. 

Oct. 2. Capt. Sam'l Hugg had our wagon for am- 
munition. Ye Militia took our light covered wagon 
without leave and have not returned it. 

Oct. 6. While I was at fathers Capt. Jos. Blewer 
took my little brown mare without leave to ride up to 
Washington's Camp, as he said. 

From Oct. 7th to the 22nd he was busy moving 
furniture, produce and stock first to his father's place, and 
thence again to his Uncle David Cooper's, at Woodbury. 
On the 10th he writes : "The Militia turned us out of our 
kitchen ye largest room upstairs and the shop and took 
our hay to feed their horses." 

On the 12th Capt. John Blewer brought his brown 
mare home and on the 17th he got his wagon back, which 
he loaded with a chest full of clothes, a tub full of china 
and crockery, a half barrel of wine; another tub full of 
pewter and one walnut box, and sent the lot to his uncle 
David Cooper's. 

On the 2 1st he took another load of goods away. 

On the 22nd of October, the day of the battle of 
Red Bank, he says : "Ye Boys and myself hung a gate 
in ye meadow and John and I went to finish ye stacks 
(hay) and our women blowed ye horn and we went 
home and got our horses and wagon and loaded it with 
goods. Ye reason was because ye English troops were 
close by. We ate some dinner and my wife, children 
and myself went off in our wagon. Father, mother and 
ye boys stayed. We got to Uncle David Coopers and 
stayed awhile and I went back again on horse back. 
Uncle David and James Cooper each sent a boy down 
to fathers to help me away with some cattle. I went 
over the Dam to fathers and got ye boys and we drove 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 259 

away 21 head, 8 fat, 4 cows, one pair oxen, 3 steers, 1 
heifer and 3 calves to Uncle David Cooper and staved 
all night. This same day ye people in ye Fort drove 
from Father and me 47 sheep into ye fort." 

This record showing that his mother, Ann Cooper 
Whitall, did not leave the farm after dinner on the day 
of the famous battle should forever kill the suspicion 
created by certain writers that she was not at home 
during the battle, and therefore could not have been en- 
gaged in knitting or spinning when the cannon ball went 
through one end of her home. 

Oct. 23. The day after the battle, which is not men- 
tioned by Friend Whitall, he records : "The Americans 
had filled the kitchen, shop, big room, the long room up- 
stairs and two other rooms down stairs which forced 
us to move out." The next day he got several teams 
and loaded them with his fathers goods and took them 
to Woodbury to John Murdocks. 

Oct. 25. He and his wife took his mother down 
and were loading goods when the soldiers took his mare 
out of harness by order of Col. Greene. This prevented 
the removal of the goods and he locked four rooms filled 
with articles. The following day he brought away his 
father's hogs and sheep, also Joseph Low's. Four out of 
2,7 were missing. 

On the 27th he went to his father's house and found 
the soldiers had broken open three of the doors. He 
got six more sheep and one pig. 

On the 29th he got a few of the potatoes the sol- 
diers had left and found the other door forced and the 
things chiefly gone out of it. This day he got his 
brown mare back. On the 31st the soldiers took a 
young mare colt away out of the meadow. At this time 
he sent a valuable horse down to Salem to his Uncle 
Richard Wood's. 

On Nov. 4, while several teams were hauling, the 
soldiers took a yoke of oxen and his sorrel horse away. 



260 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

Nov. 7. He went to Woodbury meeting and the 
soldiers had made a hospital of the meeting house, and 
a meeting was held out of doors and when over a Prepar- 
ative meeting was held in Mark Miller's house. He 
said it was a matter of satisfaction and comfort to him. 

On the 9th another meeting was held out of doors. 
On his return home the soldiers had stolen two of his 
pigs in the night. His Uncle David Cooper while on 
the way to meeting saw two soldiers, one of whom had 
a pig. He shouted to them and they dropped the pig 
and ran as fast as they could through the corn. This 
would make a good subject for some artist. 

Nov. 18. The sick soldiers were all ordered away. 

Nov. 21. I stayed at home on account of ye 
English soldiers coming here today. They took two 
mares from me, one sorrel horse out of the stable, the 
other out of the lot, a brown mare, both with foal, and 
while ye army was passing they came in and took our 
bread, pie, milk, cheese, meat dishes, cups, spoons and 
then took shirts, sheets, blankets, coverleds, stockings, 
breeches and drove our cattle out of ye brick shed and 
they all came back but one big brown ox that we worked 
while here. They broke open two doors and ransacked 
ye house all over but ye cellar. 

Nov. 22. He stayed at home all day. The soldiers 
took one of his pigs and cut and hacked several others 
with their swords. We were pretty peaceable this day — 
only came and got some potatoes and milk. There was 
a great number of soldiers who went by this day and 
while passing they took off my gears with them. 

On the 23rd he went to Uncle David Cooper's and 
found the soldiers had been there and broken open many 
doors and two drawers in his desk. Took nearly a whole 
barrel of sugar leaving only a few pounds and also took 
ten sheep of his father's and Joseph Low's. Towards 
night he went home and some soldiers were there taking 
as much hay as two horses could carry strung on each 
side with ropes. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 261 

Nov. 24. Ye English soldiers all moved off this 
morning and left Woodbury. I walked to where they 
had their camp and we found our big kettle but not our 
little pot. Found ye brown oxes hide belonging to 
father that they had killed, and took it to Aaron Hews 
for him to tan for me. It weighed 50 lbs. Father found 
a Windsor chair in the woods. I walked to Woodbury 
to see my friends and the soldiers had stolen out of our 
smoke house in Woodbury 4 or 5 flitches of bacon. They 
had taken over a thousand feet of ij4 i ncn boards and 
2 or 3 thousand barrel staves. 

Nov. 25. Sailors came ashore and took Brother 
James' hogs. 

Nov. 30. Went to Woodbury meeting for the first 
time since the soldiers had left it. 

Dec. 15. Went to Red Bank to spread Flax that 
ye soldiers had made tents of. It was very much 
tangled. 



Spelling of Family Names 

It is a curious fact that many of the first settlers 
would not recognize their names as now spelled by their 
grandchildren's grandchildren. 

Covenover is now Conover. 
Van Immen is now Vanneman. 
M arret is now Moffett. 
Eslick is now Eastlack. 

Pronunciation has had a great deal to do with the 
changes in spelling. In Salem Co., where I was born, 
the Steward family was a large one and there was no 
trouble with my name. When I went to Philadelphia 
everybody called me Stewart, and I, boy-like, thought it 
would be all right to make the spelling conform to the 
practice. When I started in business for myself I did 



262 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

not have the courage to correct the error on my business 
stationery. It is now necessary for me to go along 
under a slight alias, using a t at the end of my name 
instead of a d, as was used by my ancestors as far back 
as I have been able to trace them. I also adopted the 
middle letter H. to distinguish myself from others of the 
same name. 

Frank H. Stewart. 



First Quakers in Old Gloucester 

Thomas Sharp wrote in the Haddonfield Friends 
Meeting records a short account of the settlement of 
Newton Township in Old Gloucester by Irish Quakers in 
1681. 

His narrative has been frequently copied in various 
histories. 

The first settlers were William Bates, George Gold- 
smith, Thomas Thackara, Mark Newby and Thomas 
Sharp. They arrived at Elsinburg in Salem County, 
Nov. 19, 1 68 1, from Dublin, Ireland, which they left 
Sept. 19, 1 68 1. They were entertained by the Thompsons 
(John and Andrew) of Elsinburg who had left Ireland 
several years before (1677). After visiting the Thomp- 
son families the party went to Salem and used several 
vacant houses of the first settlers of Fenwick's Colony 
who had moved to their plantations in the country. A 
boat was purchased from the Swansons (Swedish people) 
and a trip was made to Burlington where a warrant for 
land was obtained from the Surveyor General, Daniel 
Leeds. After considerable search the party selected New- 
ton and in the beginning of the spring of 1682 the party, 
with Robert Zane, another Irish Quaker of Salem, re- 
moved from there to Newton, where a Meeting was estab- 
lished in the home of Mark Newby who soon became one 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 263 

of the most prominent men of West New Jersey; a little 
later the house of William Cooper of Pyne Point was 
also used as a Friends Meeting House. 

The Indians proved loving and kind, contrary to ex- 
pectations. He finishes the sketch with "This narrative 
I have thought good and requisite to leave behind as hav- 
ing had knowledge of the things from the beginning." 
We are very much indebted to him. 

The first birth recorded was Constantine Wood, son 
of John and Alice Wood, of Woodbury Creek, born 24th 
7 mo, 1683, probably as the entry claims the first child 
born of English parents about the neighborhood of the 
creek. 

The first marriage recorded was that of John Ladd 
to Sarah Wood at a public meeting at the house of James 
Atkinson, 13th 10 mo. 1685. 

Frank H. Stewart. 







^^B^fF*^' 



&5W 7 c* 

*S V -> v 

GRAVE YARD AND END VIEW OF MORAVIAN CHURCH. 

FROM PHOTO BY E. W. HUMPHREYS 



Ancient Burial Places in Gloucester County* 

The oldest of the burial places established by the 
early colonists of Gloucester County is that at Swedes- 
boro, now known as Trinity Churchf Burying-Ground. 
Swedesboro was first settled by the Swedes, probably as 
early as 1638, and although the written records of the 
church do not begin until 1702, it is quite likely that the 
present site of the church and the adjoining burying- 
ground is one originally selected for the purpose. 

It is situated on a bluff at the intersection of the 
Raccoon creek and the King's Highway, and is enclosed 
by a well-kept stone wall. With the beautiful colonial 
church, built in 1784, in the background, the effect as 
one approaches the town is quaint and picturesque, remind- 
ing the traveler of an English village. 

In this yard lie buried hundreds of the pioneers of 
Swedesboro. Although the yard is quite large, it was 
evidently soon filled with graves, for in the early part of 
the last century another burial-ground was established 
about two squares to the west, which is known as the 
New Cemetery. The latter ground is enclosed with a 
stone wall, and both wall and grounds are kept in excel- 
lent condition by the church. 

There was another Swedish settlement at Repaapo, 
which possibly antedated that at Swedesboro by a short 
time; but the site of Repaapo is not known, although the 
name still survives in a locality near the river which is 
to-day known as Repaupo. 

The next oldest burial place in the county is probably 
the Wood burying-ground. on the south side of Woodbury 
creek, near its mouth. Richard Wood is said to have 
* By Louis B. Moffett. 

t Copies of Vital Statistical records of Trinity Church are at the Genea- 
logical Society of Pennsylvania. 

17 



266 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

settled at this place in 1681. Other members of his family 
followed and within a few years the huts of settlers were 
scattered here and there throughout that section of the 
county. A graveyard was laid out and was probably used 
by the entire community until the establishment of the 
Friends meeting in Woodbury, about two miles away, in 
1 71 5. It has been used by descendants of the Wood 
family within the memory of persons now living. The 
earlier graves were marked by rude field stones, most of 
which have disappeared. There is one, however, which 
bears the initials R. W. and this may be that of the foun- 
der of the colony. Other stones bear the names of Wil- 
kins, Hillman, Peter Crimm, and, of course, Wood. 

It is said that between 1840 and 1845 there was a 
freshet which washed away a portion of the graveyard, 
dislodging a number of bodies and carrying them away. 
Although the Gloucester County Historical Society has 
erected a memorial stone with an appropriate inscription, 
the cemetery is in danger of disappearing. Boathouses 
occupy the banks of the creek, and the cemetery is almost 
a public thorofare. The ground is gradually filling in 
and some of the stones are covered half-way up. It is 
quite possible that within a few years all traces of it will 
have been obliterated. 

The Friends erected a meeting house in Woodbury 
in 1 71 5 and the adjoining burial-ground was probably 
established at the same time. It contains the grave of 
Ann Whitall, the heroine of the battle of Red Bank. It 
is said that a part of the ground has been filled in three 
times and each time used again for burial purposes. The 
meeting house and cemetery occupy the most commanding 
spot in Woodbury and form one of the attractive features 
of the beautiful and historic town. 

The Presbyterian burying-ground in North Wood- 
bury dates back to 1721, at which time the ground was 
obtained, the church built and the graveyard established. 
The first church was of logs and was replaced by another 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 267 

building when the congregation grew larger. The church 
building was ordered to be sold in 1803 and in 1833 the 
congregation built a commodious building about a mile 
south, on the site occupied by the present church building. 
The old yard continued to be used for burial purposes for 
many years, but now only an occasional interment is 
there made. The yard is in a deplorable condition and 
no attempt is made to keep it up. Mrs. Ann Hunter, the 
wife of Rev. Andrew Hunter, is buried there. She had 
so endeared herself to the people that they all sought to 
do her honor at her funeral. Samuel Mickle, however, 
in his diary, which is reproduced in this volume, deplored 
the pomp and ceremony with which she was buried. 

The stones remaining in the yard represent the Roe, 
Cozens, Clark, Moffett and other prominent local families. 

Samuel Mickle, in his diary, under date of Nov. 10, 
1802, records that he laid off a family burial-ground on 
part of Benjamin Hopper's* land. The writer has been 
unable to locate this. 

Many of the settlers had their own private burial- 
grounds on their plantations. The roads were poor, 
transportation was difficult, and they preferred having 
their dead in a place convenient of access rather than in 
the church cemeteries, which were difficult to reach and 
not particularly well-kept. Many of these private bury- 
ing-grounds are still in existence and some are even used 
to this day; but others have been entirely lost track of. 

The most attractive of these private burying-grounds 
in Gloucester County is the Reeves burying-ground, locat- 
ed on the old Reeves plantation about a mile south of 
Woodbury, between the West Jersey and Seashore Rail- 
road and Mantua Pike. The farm is now owned by 
Clement R. Bueld. 

This cemetery was established by Joseph Reeves, who 
was born in 1700 and died in 1780. The stone marking 

• There was a Hopper burial-ground adjoining Friends ground.— (F. H. S.). 



268 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

his grave is in excellent condition. The plot is enclosed by 
a stone wall with two pairs of heavy iron gates, and is 
surrounded by a number of noble old trees. It is a very 
attractive spot, and the manner in which it is cared for 
reflects credit upon the descendants of its founder, some 
of whom are members of the New Jersey Society of 
Pennsylvania. It is still used for burying purposes, the 
most recent interment being that of the wife of Rev. 
Herbert Burk. Her grave is marked by an Irish cross, 
which is one of the most beautiful mortuary emblems in 
the county. The stones in the yard represent the Reeves, 
Moffett, Snow, Saunders and other allied families. 

Further down the Mantua road is the old Chew 
Cemetery, located on Mantua Creek, about a quarter of a 
mile west of the road. The cemetery contains stones rep- 
resenting four generations of the Chew family, including 
the first settler, Nathaniel Chew, and his wife Mary; his 
son Jeffrey, who became one of the largest land owners 
in that locality, and his wife Ann; David Chew, the son 
of Jeffrey, and his wife Hannah ; and Stille Chew, son 
of David, and his wife Rebecca M. David Eldridge, who 
died June 18, 1823, age 89, is buried here; also his first 
wife, Sarah Chew, and his second wife, Rebecca Moffett. 
David Eldridge was one of the best-known men in Glou- 
cester County and was the ancestor of several members 
of the New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania. 

There are also numerous graves marked only by rude 
stones and there is a tradition that a number of victims 
of an epidemic of cholera are there interred. One of the 
descendants of the Chew family recently erected a very 
substantial enclosure for the cemetery, consisting of gran- 
ite posts with iron rails between. 

On the east side of the Mantua road, just before it 
crosses Mantua creek, lies the plantation formerly owned 
by Samuel Maffet and his wife Rachel. Samuel Maffet, 
in 1763, sold this farm to Jeffrey Chew, but reserved ''A 
privilege on 20 feet square of land to the said Samuel 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 269 

Maffet, to inter and bury his friends at the place where his 
two sons are now buried, adjoining on the line between 
the tract herein mentioned and other land of the said 
Jeffrey Chew." This item in the deed throws some light 
upon the customs of the early settlers, for it will be ob- 
served that Samuel Maffet hospitably allowed his friends 
to find a last resting place upon his land. 

This plantation descended to Samuel Chew, grand- 
son of Jeffrey Chew, and is now owned by a Mr. Redraw. 
The graveyard has long since disappeared and no one to- 
day knows even its approximate site. 

On the road from Mantua to Sewell, near the bridge 
over the tracks of the West Jersey R. R., lies another 
Chew cemetery. This cemetery contains the remains of 
Jesse Chew, minister of the Gospel, who died in 18 12, age 
74 years. There is also a stone for his wife Mary, and 
for several of their descendants, representing the East- 
lack, Carpenter and Earley families. 

The Driver cemetery is located in the village of 
Barnsboro. It was established by Samuel Driver, one of 
the earliest settlers in that locality, who was a member of 
the Woodbury Friends' Meeting. It is enclosed by a 
stone wall, part of which has lately fallen down, and con- 
tains a number of gravestones of the Driver family. 

On the old road which winds through the country 
from Barnsboro to Mickleton, a road which is to-day but 
little used, lies what is left of the Jessup cemetery, on the 
brow of a hill near the old Jessup homestead, about a mile 
from Barnsboro. The farm is now owned by Harry 
Lafferty. This yard was formerly surrounded by a good 
stone wall, but about two generations ago this wall was 
dismantled by the owner and the larger part of the yard 
is now under cultivation. There are but three stones re- 
maining: John West, son of Richard and Rachel West, 
died August 14, 1798, age 63; Sarah West, died August 
13. 1826, age 70 years; and Mary Jones died May 25, 
1789, age 21. 



270 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

About one-half mile south of the Jessup graveyard 
on the other side of the road is the old West burying- 
ground, on the farm now occupied by a Mr. Sharp. This 
ground is on the brow of a hill forming part of a meadow 
and is without enclosure of any kind. The stones now 
standing are those of Job West, died March 4, 1800, age 
30 years ; Isaiah West, died June 21, 181 1, age 39 ; Sarah, 
wife of Michael Hess, died October 8, 1774, age 28. The 
cows ramble freely over the place and it is quite probable 
that in a few years these stones will be broken and will 
disappear. 

On the road which leads from Pitman to Jefferson, 
about one mile east of Jefferson, is the Tomlin cemetery. 
The farm on which it is located is owned by William Duf- 
field. This cemetery is enclosed with a brick wall, which 
was originally very good, but is now beginning to fall 
apart. The plot is overgrown with briers, underbrush 
and young trees, and is almost impenetrable except in 
winter. 

In North Woodbury, on the opposite side of the 
old King's Highway from the Presbyterian cemetery 
and about two squares south of it, lies what is left of the 
old Ward burying-ground. There are but two stones 
remaining in this ground : Benj amin Ward, born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1733, died February 22, 1795; Hannah Ward, 
died Oct. 30, 1802, age 35 years and 4 months. This 
land is restricted for use only as a cemetery and since 
the present owners do not care to spend any money 
upon it, it is used as a dumping ground and a play- 
ground, and it is really remarkable that the two stones 
that remain standing are in such good condition. A 
toll gate at one time stood upon the front part of the 
cemetery lot. 

The old Methodist Cemetery in Woodbury now 
forms a part of the Green Cemetery and is located on 
the old Egg Harbor road just east of Evergreen Avenue. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 271 

About a half mile farther out the road on the same 
side is a farm now owned by Doctor Ralph J. Iszard, 
formerly the Nathan Ward place. There is an old 
graveyard on the lane leading to the house, but only a 
few unlettered field stones remain, two of which are im- 
bedded in the roots of a tree. The ground is about 50 
feet square, and, while not enclosed, it is held sacred and 
is not used for any other purpose. The dwelling house 
on the farm is a well-built brick structure, bearing on 
the gable the inscription "N. A. W. 1791." 

On the road from Woodbury to Almonesson, at the 
point where it crosses the stone road which leads from 
Westville to Glassboro, lies a farm now owned by Dr. 
Brewer, of Woodbury. In the center of a field bounded 
by these two roads lies an old cemetery, the original 
owner of which is not known. It contains a number 
of stones representing the Perce or Pierce family and is 
spoken of as a Pierce burying-ground. Some veterans 
of the Civil War are buried there, and their graves are 
remembered each memorial clay by their comrades of the 
G. A. R. 

There was a cemetery adjoining Christ Episcopal 
Church, in Woodbury, until a few years ago, when the 
bodies were removed. The ground is now partly occu- 
pied by the parish house. 

The Strangers Burying-Ground, which was for 
more than a century one of the landmarks of Woodbury, 
occupied about an acre of ground on the south side of 
Cooper Street west of Broad. In this cemetery many of 
the Hessians killed at Red Bank were buried. Buttons of 
uniforms and bayonets were found when the cemetery was 
vacated. It was condemned about two years ago, and a 
new street known as Lupton Avenue marks the site. The 
bodies and remaining stones were removed to the Paupers' 
Burying-Ground, which is located on the old road, now 
little used, leading from a point near Almonesson to North 
Woodbury. 



2J2 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

Farther along this road and about a quarter of a 
mile nearer Woodbury is the Cattell cemetery, founded 
by the ancestors of the numerous families of that name. 
It was used to some extent by members of the Cattell 
family until quite recently. Jonas Cattell, famous as the 
guide of the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, is said to be 
buried there. 

Back in the region of sand and pine trees between 
Almonesson and a point on the stone road known as 
New Sharon, lies the old Walton place. The old ceme- 
tery on this place is located on a hill about 30 feet high 
which slopes down to a small stream. The hill is cover- 
ed with noble oak trees and the spot is peaceful and 
quiet. But a few field stones remain to mark the graves, 
two of which are rudely lettered, one "J- W." and the 
other "M. W." The farm was lately occupied by 
Azariah Eastlack, who left it to the Presbyterian Church 
at Blackwood. It is now owned by J. B. Vanneman. 

On the road leading from Bethel to Clement's 
Bridge, just north of its intersection with the road 
which leads from Almonesson to Blackwood, is the 
Perce cemetery. This cemetery is enclosed with a very 
substantial stone wall and is used to this day by the de- 
scendants of the family. The inscriptions on the stones 
represent the Perce, Montgomery, Best and Brewer 
families. 

About a mile to the north of the Perce cemetery, 
on the same side of the road, is the Jaggard cemetery, 
now used as a burying-ground by residents of Almones- 
son. The ground is well kept. 

The Crown Point road leading from Westville to 
Gibbstown, passing through Thorofare and Paulsboro, 
was originally one of the main roads of the county and 
the farms through which it runs were occupied by well- 
to-do planters. Quite a number of private burying- 
grounds are located on farms along this road. 

In a paper read before the Gloucester County His- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 273 

torical Society, in 1906, Mr. Ezekiel L. Cloud states that 
there was a burying-ground on the northeast corner of 
Delaware Street and Crown Point Road, known as the 
Pierce graveyard. The stones have been used for pav- 
ing and doorsteps and the ground has been ploughed 
over, so that all traces of it have disappeared. 

The Stephens cemetery is located about a mile north 
of Paulsboro on the farm of Richard B. Davis. Through 
the briers and sumac the names of Stephens, Ward and 
Shuster may be seen on some of the tombstones. The 
yard is still used for burial purposes, three burials hav- 
ing been made there within recent years. This farm was 
probably part of the plantation owned and occupied by 
the famous Tench Francis. 

At Mantua Point on the Delaware River, on a site 
now occupied by the I. P. Thomas & Sons Co. phos- 
phate works, was the Paul burial-ground. The bodies 
in this cemetery were removed in about 1880 to the 
Methodist Episcopal Cemetery in Paulsboro, and the 
ground is now used for commercial purposes. 

The Lodge cemetery stood on the Lodge farm on 
the banks of the Delaware River, near the village of 
Billingsport. This farm now forms part of the plant of 
the Vacuum Oil Company, and in 19 17 the bodies and 
tombstones were removed to Eglington cemetery, in 
Clarksboro, N. J. 

There is an interesting bit of tradition connected with 
the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery in the town of Pauls- 
boro. The ground was owned by Samuel P. Paul and 
was at the time of his death, in 1831, covered with a 
beautiful growth of rye. Mr. Paul on his death-bed re- 
quested that he be buried in his ryefield and his wishes 
were carried out. Later his heirs presented the ground 
to the Church for use as a cemetery. 

At the southern end of Paulsboro, at the junction of 
the Main street with the road leading to Swedesboro, 
stands a farm formerly occupied by Joseph L. Locke, prior 



274 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

to whose ownership known as the John Fleming farm. 
There was quite an extensive graveyard, on this farm, 
which was located along the Swedesboro road near the 
present lane. No one seems to know the history of the 
yard. It has been farmed over for many years and in 
former years it was quite a common occurrence for a plow 
to turn up a skull or some other part of a human skeleton. 
The ground in that particular part of the farm is now 
being used for building sand, and all traces of the former 
cemetery have entirely disappeared. 

About a mile farther down, on the opposite side of 
the road, is a farm now occupied by Joseph Clement and 
formerly owned by his grandfather, Mark Clement. On 
the north side of the entrance of the lane leading to the 
house is an old burying-ground, known as the Mickle 
burying-ground. It is a small plot, covered with a thick 
growth of young trees, but there is nothing to indicate 
that it is a burying-ground except three uncut and unlet- 
tered field stones, which may be found by searching 
through the leaves and underbrush. 

The Catnac or Catnack cemetery was located on a 
farm formerly owned by E. G. Green, now owned by the 
DuPonts and occupied by Turner Ashton. It was en- 
closed by a substantial wall and contained several stones. 
The wall was torn down years ago and, with the grave- 
stones, was used as foundations for some farm buildings. 
The ground is now under farm cultivation and only the 
approximate site of the graveyard is known. 

In the village of Gibbstown there once stood an old 
Methodist meeting house, built of stone, with a graveyard 
adjoining. When the building was abandoned as a 
church it was converted into a barn, which was torn down 
when the land, which was known as the Mullen farm, was 
acquired by the DuPont interests. 

The cemetery is just outside of the entrance gate to 
the DuPont plant, but the stones have been entirely de- 
stroyed by vandals and have disappeared. Rev. Jesse 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 275 

Mullen, a local preacher, who was bom about 1803 and 
died about 1855, at one time owned the farm and fre- 
quently preached in the church. 

Farther down the road, about a mile before reaching 
Bridgeport, is the old Cooper family burying-ground. It 
is enclosed by a wall, but is so full of young saplings and 
briars as to be almost impenetrable. Some of the bodies 
have been removed to other cemeteries and no one appears 
to have any interest in those which remain. 

One of the most interesting spots in the county is the 
ancient Moravian Church with its adjoining burying- 
ground, on the road from Swedesboro to Sharptown, near 
Oldman's Creek. The history of this church is given else- 
where in this book. The gravestones bear the names of 
Pierson, Vanneman, Gill, Shute, and other early settlers, 
whose descendants are among the leading citizens of the 
present generation. 

Solomon's Graveyard is located about 100 yards 
from Wolfert's station, on the Woodbury-Salem railroad, 
and marks the original site of the first meeting house of 
the Upper Greenwich Preparative Meeting of Friends. 
The lot was granted by Solomon Lippincott in 1740, and 
a frame meeting house was built, which served its pur- 
pose until the society built a new meeting house in Mickle- 
ton in 1798. The graveyard continued to be used as such 
by Friends long after the meeting was removed, and it is 
still known as Solomon's, thus preserving the memory of 
its donor. It is enclosed by a substantial stone wall. The 
original meeting house no longer exists. 

There were two early Methodist churches near 
Swedesboro which are of considerable interest, Oak Grove 
and Ebenezer. Oak Grove is about one and one-half miles 
from Swedesboro, on the road to Bridgeport. The church 
is still standing and is familiarly known as the "old 
stone church." The adjoining graveyard is enclosed by a 
stone wall, and contains a number of graves with a few 
headstones remaining. 



276 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Ebenezer churchyard is a half mile north of the stone 
road leading from Swedesboro to Auburn, on the last 
cross-road before reaching Oldman's creek. The church, 
which was a frame structure, is no longer there, but the 
cemetery is enclosed by a brick wall which is falling into 
decay. The names appearing on the stones are Jackson, 
Kimble, Guest, Hurff and Titus. 

The old Cozens burying-ground lies on a farm located 
on a road leading from Eastlack's corners near Mantua, 
past Jessup's mill to a point on the road leading from 
Clarksboro to Jefferson. The cemetery is located on the 
top of a cone shaped hill which seems very much like an 
Indian mound. It slopes down on one side to a branch 
of the Mantua creek and is covered with trees, some of 
which are quite large. The stones now standing are those 
of Elijah Cozens and his wife Ann, and their daughter 
Sarah Cozens. 

Elijah Cozens was a deputy surveyor and a scrivener 
and part owner of a mill near his home. He did much of 
the conveyancing for that part of the county and his name 
frequently appears in the public records. 

There is a very interesting burying-ground at the 
northern end of the town of Glassboro. Glassboro was 
first settled in 1775, at which time the Stanger brothers 
established there the pioneer glass-works of the county. 
The Stangers and most of their employees were Germans, 
and doubtless the first business which occupied their atten- 
tion was the building of a house of worship. The ceme- 
tery is said to be the site of the first rude church building, 
and the original settlers were probably all buried within 
its shadow. The gravestones of several of the Stanger 
brothers are still in good condition, as is also that of their 
mother, Catherine Stanger, who, according to the inscrip- 
tion, died in 1800, aged 85. 

The graveyard is in a neglected condition, although 
the stones have not suffered as much violence at the hands 
of vandals as is the case in most old cemeteries. The 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 277 

remaining tombstones contain the following family 
names : Stanger, Bocline, Shaffer, Swope, Focer and 
Thorne. 

Eglington Cemetery, in Clarksboro, has grown up 
around the old private burying-ground set apart by John 
Eglington, in 1776, in his last will and testament. The 
original plot is still kept in its original condition and con- 
tains the gravestones of Jeffrey Clark and other pioneers 
of Clarksboro. 

The Lippincott Cemetery is located in the grounds 
of the county farm and almshouse, which was formerly 
owned by Restore Lippincott, who purchased it from Wil- 
liam Gerrard, one of the largest landholders among the 
early settlers. 

There is an abandoned cemetery about two miles 
south of Swedesboro, located on the right side of the road 
to Centre Square, about a half-mile west from the Swedes- 
boro-Auburn road. The cemetery is on the boundary line 
between the farms now owned by Charles G. Batten and 
Charles Hampton. The part which is on the Batten farm 
has been plowed up to a large extent, and broken pieces 
of tombstones may be seen here and there. The only 
inscription which can now be deciphered is as follows : 

Betsy Roberts, 
Died April 30, 1841 
In the 69th Year of Her Age. 

This stone was standing in good condition until a 
very short time ago, but it now lies on the ground broken 
in several pieces. 

The part of the cemetery which lies on the farm of 
Charles Hampton is covered with a heavy growth of 
young trees, underbrush and poison ivy, and is not safe to 
visit, except in winter. Members of the Dunn and Avis 
families are said to be buried there, but, if there ever 
were gravestones there, none remain at this time. 



278 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

One of the oldest Methodist Church organizations 
in the county is the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, 
located in the village formerly called Bethel, but now 
known as HurfXville. It dates back to 1770. The church 
building now standing there is the third one to be erected 
and used by the congregation. The adjoining cemetery is 
quite extensive, and contains the graves of hundreds of 
the pioneers of that part of the county. The principal 
family names represented on the tombstones in the old 
section of the cemetery are as follows : Chew, Dilks, 
Heritage, Bee, Swope, Turner, Brown, Beckett, Hurff, 
Watson, Clark, Firth, Carpenter, Prosser, Eastlack, 
Porch and many others. It is said to be the site of an old 
Indian burying-ground. 

The Union Graveyard and United Association, in 
Mantua, was founded February 13, 1804. The ground 
for the cemetery was given by Martin Turner and deeded 
to Richard Moffett, Moses Crane, Thomas Carpenter, 
Edward Carpenter and Captain Robert Sparks, and their 
successors. Mary W. Pancoast by will bequeathed $1,000 
toward the building of the wall. The yard is scarcely 
more than a quarter-acre in extent, and soon became com- 
pletely filled. No burials have been made there of late 
years. The principal family names to be found upon the 
tombstones are Turner, Chew, Clark, Eldridge and Paul. 

A most interesting old burying-ground is the one on 
the outskirts of Blackwood known as the Walling or the 
Powell burying-ground. It was included in the original 
limits of Gloucester County, but is now just over the line 
in Camden County. It is supposed by some historians to 
mark the site of the lost town of Upton, which appears 
frequently upon the early records of the county. It is 
picturesquely located on a high piece of land which slopes 
precipitously down to Timber Creek, and gives every ap- 
pearance of having been a village or church cemetery. 

There are many interesting old burying-places with- 
in the present limits of Camden County, which was for- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 279 

merly a part of Gloucester County. The oldest and 
most important of these is the Newton Burying-ground, 
which was established by members of the So- 
ciety of Friends, who settled on the banks of Newton 
Creek in 1681. Their meetings were at first held in 
the homes of the various members, but as soon as they 
found it possible, they built for themselves a meeting- 
house, and set aside space for a cemetery adjoining. 

Thomas Sharp, who proved to be the historian of 
the Society, in his account of their early settlements, says : 
"In 1684, the Friends in the vicinity of Newton, desirous 
of erecting a house of worship, selected a lot of land on 
the bank of the middle branch of Newton Creek, contain- 
ing about two acres, it being on the bounds of land of 
Mark Newby and Thomas Thackara, which was laid out 
for a burial-ground, and at the west end a log meeting- 
house was erected." They chose the banks of the creek 
for the reason that their plantations were located on the 
various branches of the creek, and their only means of 
communication was by water. 

This burying-ground is very convenient of access, 
being not more than one hundred yards from the West 
Collingswood Station on the Reading Railway. The 
original Newton Burying-ground, together with an ad- 
ditional plot of one acre which was given for the purpose 
in 1791 by James Sloan, is enclosed with a substantial 
stone wall, and is the most impressive relic of the first 
settlement of that section of New Jersey. Standing at 
the lower edge, on the banks of the creek, one can readily 
imagine that the spot has changed little in appearance 
since the early days. The creek at this point is quite 
wide, and the wooded hill-sides which remain suggest 
the heavy forests which originally covered them. The 
rough stones which marked the graves of those who 
were first buried in the plot have largely disappeared, 
and for many years it was not the custom of Friends to 
erect tombstones of any kind. Numerous descendants 



280 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

of the early settlers, however, are there buried, and 
among the well-known families whose names may be 
found inscribed on the tombstones are : 

Hugg, Collins, Collings, Howell, Clayton, Heritage, 
Christy, Bickham, Davis, Ogden, Sloan, Ellis, Albertson, 
Smiley, Jones, Thackeray, Watson, Cooper, Redfield, 
White, Knight. The oldest stone in the yard appears to 
be that of Mary Heritage, who died September 16, 1768, 
in her 18th year. 

The history of this yard appears to be but little 
known to the average person, although there is no more 
interesting chapter in New Jersey annals. Thanks to 
Thomas Sharp, the history of the organization of the 
colony has been preserved in great detail, and a later 
historian, John Clement, in his "History of the First 
Settlers of Newton Township," has vividly portrayed its 
growth and development. The old cemetery appears 
now to be going through a period of neglect. Although 
the wall, as before stated, is very substantial, the opening 
in it is not closed by a gate and the yard has therefore 
become a playground for boys. The town of West Col- 
lingswood should be proud to have such a relic as this 
within its bounds, and its citizens should be glad to con- 
tribute whatever may be necessary to keep it in condi- 
tion and to preserve it as a memorial to the trials and 
privations of the pious men who established it. 

The Zane grave-yard lies within a few hundred 
yards of Clement's Bridge on Timber Creek, on what is 
known as the old Wartman place. The remains of 
Colonel Isaiah Marple lie in this plot, and the tall stone 
which marks his grave is standing in good condition. 
There are but two other stones to be found — Mary S. 
Zane, born May 25, 1780, died October 12, 1847, and 
Samuel Zane, died January 3, 1833, aged 55 years, 10 
months and 17 days. The stone of Mary S. Zane has 
been shattered, and the inscription is read with difficulty. 

The Inskeep burial-ground lies about one and one- 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 281 

half miles west of Marlton, on the banks of the stream 
which separates Camden County from Burlington 
County. It is located on the brow of a hill, and from it a 
meadow slopes gently down to the stream. The plot 
is about forty feet square, and is partly enclosed by a 
dilapidated board fence, which does not prevent the 
gentle meadow herd from seeking the grateful shade of 
its cedar trees on hot summer days. 

Several stones remain in excellent condition, but a 
study of the inscriptions discloses the fact that no fewer 
than four members of the Inskeep family died within a 
period of fifteen days, two of them on the same day. 
Whether they were carried off by some infectious or 
contagious disease is not known to the writer; but, even 
after the lapse of nearly two centuries, the sad story 
told by the well-cut and well-preserved tombstones can 
be visualized, and the sorrow and anguish of the sur- 
viving members of the family imagined. 

The inscriptions are as follows: Mary Inskeep, 
daughter of John Inskeep, died Nov. 13, 1756, in her 
26th year; Sarah, wife of Titz N. Leeds and daughter 
of John Inskeep, died Nov. 5, 1756, in her 18th year; 
William Inskeep, died Nov. 13, 1756, in his 27th year; 
John Inskeep, died Oct. 30, 1756, aged 55 years; Mary 
Inskeep, died September 19, 1775, aged 30 years; Sarah 
Rogers, died Jan. 22, 1855, a g e d 81 years, 4 months; 
Joseph P. Rogers (no date). 

George R. Prowell, in his History of Camden 
County, published in 1886, mentions a number of other 
burial-places in Camden County, among which are the 
following : 

The Henry Wood grave-yard, on the farm lately 
owned by Lemuel Horner, near the site of the Camden 
City Water Works. This, of course, does not mean 
the present artesian plant of the City of Camden, but 
the older plant in the neighborhood of Cooper's Creek. 
This yard has been abandoned for many years. 
18 



282 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

The Bull grave-yard, located somewhere in what is 
now the City of Gloucester. Even the approximate site 
of this grave-yard is not now known. 

The Watson grave-yard, situated near the road 
which leads from Blue Anchor to May's Landing, about 
one mile south of Winslow. This was a comparatively 
public place at that time, being the crossing of two In- 
dian trails — one going from Egg Harbor to the Dela- 
ware River, and the other from Burlington County 
towards Cape May. Nothing now remains to show the 
spot. 

The Graysbury grave-yard, located a short distance 
west of the White Horse and Camden Turnpike. This 
yard has entirely disappeared, and the Philadelphia and 
Atlantic City Railroad now passes through it. 

Woos' burial-place, about one mile south of Water- 
ford, where the Indian trail crosses Clark's branch. This 
was established by Sebastian Woos and his brothers, 
who settled at that place prior to 1800. 

The Bates grave-yard at Bates's Mill, about one 
mile south of Waterford. Benjamin Bates, who was 
an officer in the Revolutionary War and did much active 
service, lies there ; also other members of the Bates family, 
as well as of the Cole and Kellum families are buried 
there. 

The Hopewell grave-yard, located about two miles 
south from Tansboro, in Winslow Township, on the old 
Egg Harbor Road. This was probably the burial- 
ground for the Friends' Meeting-house which formerly 
stood there. 

The cemetery at Berlin, formerly known as "Long- 
a-Coming," dating back perhaps as far as 17 14. The 
original cemetery now forms a part of the larger ceme- 
tery which adjoins it, and is kept in excellent condition. 

Burden's grave-yard, on the brow of a hill, near the 
point where the turnpike road from Berlin strikes the 
Clementon and White Horse Road. It was probably 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 283 

founded by Thomas Webster, who owned the land in 
1742, and who with part of his family was buried there. 
Richard Burden became the owner in 1789, and the 
burial-place has since been known by his name. No 
vestige of a stone or grave may now be found there. 

Matlack's grave-yard, on a farm formerly owned 
by Alexander Cooper, Esq., in Delaware Township, near 
Glendale. Concerning this cemetery, Prowell states "it 
is a small inclosed spot in a field. The fence is carefully 
maintained, and it is contemplated to erect there a 
marble tablet to commemorate the place and to secure it 
from encroachments or neglect." The writer has not 
had the opportunity to visit this spot and to ascertain 
whether the laudable resolution was carried into effect. 

Tomlinson's grave-yard, near Laurel Mills, in Glou- 
cester Township. This was strictly a burial-place for 
the Tomlinson family, and was probably established by 
Joseph Tomlinson, who settled in that section as early 
as 1690. 

Sloan's burial-place, a neglected spot on the south 
side of Irish Hill, in Union Township, a short distance 
east from the Blackwood and Camden Turnpike. Prow- 
ell states "this cemetery has no fence about it, and is 
entirely covered with timber and underbrush." It has 
probably disappeared entirely by this time. 

The Mapes grave-yard, "on the turnpike road lead- 
ing from Camden to Kirkwood, in Center Township." 
It was established by John Mapes, and adjoins the house 
in which he and his family lived. John Mapes was a 
soldier in the corps of Colonel Henry Lee. 

In the lower end of Old Gloucester County, now 
Atlantic County, are numerous old burying-grounds, but 
it is not possible in this article to give a complete list 
of them. The following information regarding them 
was furnished by our historian, Frank H. Stewart, of 
Woodbury, and Miss Sarah A. Risley, of Pleasantville. 

The burying-ground of the Mathis family is lo- 



284 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

cated at Chestnut Neck, where the Revolutionary battle 
was fought. Several undated and unmarked stones are 
to be seen, but there are only three standing with in- 
scriptions. They are John Mathis, born Dec. 23, 1753, 
died October 20, 1824; Martha Mathis, wife of John, 
born June 29, 1762, died April 12, 1842; Louiza Mathis, 
wife of John Mathis, born October 3, 1804, died Oc- 
tober 27, 1850. 

Above Chestnut Neck, on the Mullica or Little Egg 
Harbor River, opposite Hog Island, is a now almost in- 
accessible place known as Clark's Landing. A tramp of 
about one thousand feet through the woods and swamp 
up the river from the landing brings one to the lonely 
and desolate graves of Thomas Clark and his wife Ruth. 
According to the inscription on his headstone he died 
May 17, 1752, in his 63rd year. Vandals have broken 
both headstones and the dates are now missing from 
that of Ruth Clark. Thomas Clark was the ancestor of 
a long line of distinguished men of New Jersey. At 
Clarks Mills, near Port Republic, is another plot contain- 
ing the remains of other members of the Clark family. 
The oldest marked stone is T. C, Oct. 31, 1793, aged 
71 years. Adriel, Judith, Elizabeth, Sherman, Parker, 
Martha, Thos. P., Mary and Thomas Clark all have in- 
scribed head-stones. This grave-yard belonged to the 
former Presbyterian Church, about one mile from Port 
Republic. 

In the town of Port Republic, across the road in 
the woods and brush from the Methodist grave-yard, is 
another old grave-yard holding the remains of many 
members of the old families of the neighborhood. Among 
them, according to the tombstones, are Micajah Smith, 
Jonas Morss and members of the Endicott and Burnett 
families. The headstones are covered by a dense under- 
growth. 

On the Morss Mill Road (named for the pioneer 
Robert Morss), about a mile west of the Shore Road at 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 285 

Smithville, is the private burial ground of the Collins 
family. The first interment with a date was that of 
Sarah, wife of Richard Collins, who died Jan'y 12, 
1801, aged 65 years 6 mos. ; Richard, b. May 1, 1725; 
died June 17, 1808; Matthew Collins, born May 7, 1764, 
died Sept. 29, 1851 ; Judith, his wife, died Oct. 27, 1822, 
aged 54 years; Levi Collins, died March 24, 1813, aged 
40 yrs. 6 mo. 4 da. ; Richard Collins, born Oct. 11, 1798, 
died May 22, 1833; Sam'l G. and Daniel L. Collins and 
Aseneth Sooy also have tombstones. There are many 
other graves without markers and several with un- 
marked stones. This yard is now well kept. 

At Leeds Point is a small plot of the Leeds family. 

At Absecon are two burial grounds of the well- 
known Doughty family, one on John Doughty's farm 
on the East side of the Shore Road, a short distance 
back. The other is on or near the Pitney Road above 
the church. 

On the Judge Doughty farm Abner Doughty, who 
died 1820, age 65, is buried, also two children of Enoch 
and Charlotte Doughty, who died 1829; also his wife, 
Leah, who died in 1831, age 73. 

The Shillingforth cemetery is on the East of the 
Shore Road in Absecon, near the Doughty plot. 

The Risley family plot is on the east side of the 
Shore Road near the Delilah Road, Pleasantville, now 
plowed up. On Park Avenue, Pleasantville, the Fish 
family established a burial plot. On the David L. Steel- 
man farm, at Northfield, Peter and Rachel Steelman 
were originally buried. 

In the woods on the Fast Shore Line tracks near 
Linwood, under a fine old white oak, are the grave 
stones of Capt. John Somers, who died March 26, 1824, 
aged 68, and others by the names of Smith, Scull and 
Somers. 

On the trolley road outside of Somers Point, on 
the road to Pleasantville, is a well-kept graveyard of 



286 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

the Steelman family. It contains several modern monu- 
ments and tombstones. The oldest stone is that of John 
Steelman, born May 4th, 1748, died Jan'y 8th, 18 18. 

Inside of the Public School ; grounds, at Somers 
Point, is a small burying ground known as the Somers 
cemetery. Here Col. Richard Somers, who died Oct. 22, 
1794, in his 57th year, and Sophia his wife, who 
died Feb. 3, 1797, in her 56th year, parents of Richard 
Somers, who lost his life in Tripoli Harbor, Sept. 4, 
1804, are buried. A memorial is also erected to his 
memory. 

Sarah Keen, widow of Capt. Jonas Keen, and sis- 
ter of Commandant Richard Somers, has a stone, as 
does Constant Somers, Junior, who died at Cronstadt, 
Russia, Aug. 24, 181 1. 

A short distance to the west of Somers Point there 
is another Somers cemetery. The oldest stone is that 
of Deborah, wife of Jesse Somers, who died Sept. 18, 
1835, aged 60 years, 7 mo., 2 days. 

Near Estellville, about a mile from the main road, 
in a clump of tall oak trees, is an ancient graveyard of 
the Steelman family. The first marked stone is that of 
Andrew Steelman, who deceased Feby. 9, 1772, aged 53 
years. Several children of Frederick and Naomi Steel- 
man also have markers dated from 1784 to 1795. 
Another Steelman plot is about a mile away. The oldest 
burial there, that of a child, stone is dated June 21, 
1806. 

At Sayres Field, near Buck Hill, are buried Judith 
Conley, died 1780, aged 40; Ephraim Sayrs, Jr., died 
1772, aged 24; Bethia Sayrs, died 1780, aged yj; 
Ephraim Sayrs, died 1773, aged 66. 

In plot at English Creek the following are buried : 

David Babcock, born Nov. 18, 1734, died June 6, 
181 2; Hannah Babcock, born July 1, 1739, died June 
22, 1803; Elijah Smith, died Nov. 12, 1831, aged 6y yr. 
6 mo. 17 da.; Zellah Smith, died Apr. 18, 1805, aged 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 287 

36 yr. 9 mo. 3 da.; Daniel Champion, died Feb. 1, 1805, 
aged 46 yr. 11 mo. 18 da. ; J. C, d. 1830. 

Outside of Tuckahoe, near the county line, is the 
ancient Methodist Church, known as the Head of the 
River Church. In its yard scores of families are buried 
and it is well worth the time to visit this well preserved 
building kept as a memorial of by-gone days. 

It was established in 1792. The oldest marked 
gravestones are those of Joseph Estell, who deceased 
May 29, 1793, aged 46; Elizabeth, his wife, died March 

6, 1 82 1, aged 69 yr. 5 mo. 7 days; Peter Corson, dec'd 
May 31, 1797, aged 23 years; David Sayres, dec'd June 

7, 181 1, age 75 years; Jane Sayres, dec'd July 26, 1805, 
age 65 years; Capt. Benjamin Weathby, died Apr. 20, 
1812, aged 65 yrs. 7 days; Capt. Jeremiah Smith, Sol- 
dier of the Revolution, born July 24, 1752, died Feb'y 
1, 1831; Samuel Stille, died Aug. 2, 1818, aged 62 yr. 
4 mo. 12 days. 

Other family names on the tombstones are Stiman, 
Vanaman, Treen, Ingersoll, Marshall, Steelman, Seeley, 
Cambern, Champion, Godfrey, Darwin, Hunter, Wil- 
liams, Burnett, Warner. 

The Smith and Ireland burying ground, located 
near Estellville, contains the graves of Japhet Ireland, 
who deceased Feb. 20, 1810, aged 66 yrs. 2 mo. 28 da; 
Mary, his wife, who died March 20, 1801, aged 54 yr. 7 
mo. 22 da.; Thomas Smith, deceased Oct. 8, 1816, aged 
31 yr. 8 mo.; Elias Smith, died July 3, 1838, aged 72 
yr. 2 mo., and other members of the two families. 

On the Main Road, Mays Landing, is the Wescott 
Burial Ground. Among those buried there the follow- 
ing names appear : Adams, Conley, Ford, Frazier, Penn- 
ington, Rape, Smiley, Taylor, Vaughan, Walker, Wes- 
cott. 

At Clarkstown, below Mays Landing, there is a 
private burying ground of the Rape family. At Cataw- 
ba cemetery, on the Great Egg Harbor River three 



288 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

miles below Clarkstown, are several graves of the West 
and Steelman families. Here, too, vandals have broken 
the tombstones. 

Central cemetery, at Linwood, is the old burial 
grounds of the Friends, but there are no ancient-dated 
stones. 

In that part of Old Gloucester Co., now known as 
Atlantic Co., it is not uncommon for hunters to find in 
the woods graves in what seems today to be virgin 
forest. The exact location of many of the old family 
burial plots inadequately described in deeds cannot be 
located today. Tales of tombstones being used for various 
purposes are so common that many of them must be 
true. Vandals smashing tombstones and farmers plow- 
ing up graveyards should be imprisoned in the county 
jails. 

According to an old deed conveying to Daniel Ire- 
land a tract of land between the two Egg Harbor Rivers, 
dated Jan. 9, 1728-9, a tract 30 ft. square, known as 
the burying ground wherein Thos. Green's children are 
buried, is reserved. Thos. Green bought the land from 
the daughter of Francis Collings May 8, 1699. Hannah 
Dole, widow of Joseph Dole, of Great Egg Harbor, sold 
it to Ireland. It adjoined land of Peter Scull. Loca- 
tion of burial ground is now unknown. 



Old Gloucester County — Its Formation and Its 
Divisions * 

Old Gloucester County included the present counties 
of Gloucester, Camden and Atlantic. Atlantic County 
was created in 1837 and Camden County in 1844. 

Prior to the formation of Atlantic County, Old 
Gloucester extended from the Delaware River to the 
Atlantic Ocean and at one time large quantities of bog 
iron was dug out of the swamps and was used to make 
cannon and cannon balls for the wars of the Revolution 
and 1812. 

In 1694, eight years after the inhabitants of Glouces- 
ter County had formed the County, the following law was 
passed by the Province of West Jersey: "Be it enacted 
by the Governor, Council and Representatives in this As- 
sembly met and assembled and by the authority of the 
same that the two distinctions or divisions heretofore 
called the third and fourth tenths be and is hereby laid 
into one county, named and from henceforth to- be called 
the County of Gloucester, the limits whereof bounded 
with the aforesaid river called Crapwell on the North and 
the river Berkley (formerly called Old Mans Creek) 
on the South." 

The same year (1694) the people of the Great Egg 
Harbour section were allotted to< Gloucester County. 

The early plan of dividing West New Jersey into 
tenths met with considerable difficulty and was soon aban- 
doned. 

The third or Irish tenth got its name from the Irish 

Quakers who settled there. It extended from Pensauken 

to Timber Creeks. The fourth tenth extended from 

Timber to Oldmans Creeks — and probably got their 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 



290 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

boundaries from the deeds given by the Indians. To the 
best of my knowledge the boundaries were established by 
common consent rather than by law, although an effort 
was made to divide the frontage on the Delaware River 
and each tenth was to extend back into the woods far 
enough to make it contain 64,000 acres. 



Distinguished Clergymen * 

Rev. Andrew Hunter, Chaplain of Militia and the 
Continental Army during the Revolution, participated in 
the tea burning episode at Greenwich, Cumberland 
County, N. J., Nov. 22, 1774. At the battle of Monmouth 
he was complimented for his conduct by General Wash- 
ington. 

After the Revolution he was pastor of the Presbyte- 
rian Church at Woodbury. He was one of the founders 
and Principal of the Woodbury Academy. From 1788 
to 1804 he was a trustee of Princeton College and from 
1804 to 1808 professor of astronomy and mathematics. 
His first wife, Ann Riddell, is buried in the Presbyterian 
graveyard at North Woodbury, near the street. 

Rev. John Croes was born at Elizabethtown, June 
1 st, 1762. He was a Revolutionary soldier and a friend 
of Rev. Nicholas Collin, rector of Trinity Church of 
Swedesboro. January 24th, 1790, he received an invita- 
tion to succeed Dr. Collin at a salary of 125 pounds specie 
per annum. The invitation was signed by 

Isaac Vanneman, George Van Leer, 

Mounce Keen, William Matson 

Peter Lock, David Hendrickson, 

William Homan, Gideon Denny, 

Andrew Hendrickson, Charles Lock. 

In 1802 he left Swedesboro and became pastor of a 
church at New Brunswick. In 181 5 he was elected the 
first Bishop of P. E. Church of New Jersey. He died 
July 30th, 1832. 

Rev. Nathaniel Evans, Clergyman and Poet, was 
born June 8th, 1742. He lived in Old Gloucester County 
and preached at Gloucester. He died Oct. 29th, 1767. 
His poems were published in Philadelphia in 1772. 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



Haddon Hall, of Haddonfield* 

A sizable book, of the greatest historic and human in- 
terest could be written about the Quaker Lady who 
founded the village of Haddonfield, New Jersey, and 
whose maiden surname was given to that locality in Old 
Gloucester County long before the village of Haddonfield 
was thought of. My present object, however, is only to 
briefly describe the home of a remarkable woman, the only 
woman, so far as I can discover, who came to America 
single-handed, as it were, to take possession of and settle 
upon a Colonial Plantation in her own right. 

Elizabeth was the daughter of John Haddon, Quaker 
anchorsmith, of Southwark, London, and Elizabeth 
(Clark) his wife. She was born in 1680; arrived in 
America 1701 ; married John Estaugh, a Quaker minister 
of England travelling in America, in 1701. She died 
in 1762 and was buried in Friends' graveyard on Haddon 
Avenue, not far from the Town Hall, a Memorial tablet 
being there erected to her memory at the 200th anniver- 
sary of the founding of the Town, in October, 19 13. 

John Clement, historian of Haddonfield, published, 
in 1873, a short article in the American Historical Record, 
entitled' "The Estaugh House." This mansion, with its 
accompaniments, will form the subject of my paper. I 
shall designate it by the appropriate name of "Haddon 
Hall," given to it by its last occupants, the family of the 
late Isaac H. Wood. To distinguish it from the classic 
old ruin of Derbyshire, we have but to add— "of Had- 
donfield"— and its identity is complete, and the chance 
thought of Mistress Dorothy Vernon is transformed into 
the more real, yet no less romantic and loving one, of 
Elizabeth, the Maiden Pioneer. 
*By Samuel N. Rhoads. 



294 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

That first American dwelling, where the noble wife 
of John Estaugh began her housekeeping, was located 
near the centre of a 500-acre tract bought by her father, 
John Haddon of Londontown, in 1698. A Friend, John 
Willis, had been the original patentee from Penn and 
Byllynge, and John's son, Thomas, sold it to John Had- 
don. The original house was located about 150 yards 
from the south bank of Cooper's Creek, on ground rising 
about thirty feet above the tidewater landing at that point. 
The landing, now unused, was recently called Coles' 
Landing, after the late owner of the property. It is in 
the extreme rear of the present village of Westmont 
(formerly named Rowandtown), and is one and one-half 
miles below the bridge over which the King's Highway, 
from Burlington to Salem, crosses Cooper's Creek. No 
vestige of this house has been known to the oldest inhabi- 
tants now living, nor to the generation preceding these, 
so far as can be ascertained. The late James Starr Lip- 
pincott, who once lived on the property adjoining, used 
to point out the reputed site of the old house cellar, but 
even that cannot now be located. 

Elizabeth was nearly twenty-one years old when she 
took possession of this home, not nineteen, as stated by 
Judge Clement in his "First Settlers of Newton Town- 
ship." Our knowledge of its construction is based wholly 
on circumstantial or traditional evidence. Regarding this, 
I quote Clement (1. c. p. 115) : — "It has been generally 
believed that she erected the first house on this tract of 
land, bringing with her much of the material from Eng- 
land. This is an error, as a map of the land made by 
Thomas Sharp in 1700 (which was before her arrival) 
proves that buildings were already on the land; and it is 
supposable that she occupied those already there. John 
Willis, the locator of the survey, no doubt put the dwell- 
ing there and (perhaps) lived on the premises some time, 
for fourteen years had elapsed between the date of the 
taking up and John Haddon's title. She probably en- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 295 

larged and improved the house so as to accord with her 
notions of convenience and comfort, and to receive her 
friends in a proper manner; for it is known that she 
never turned the stranger away from her door, or suffered 
her acquaintances to look for entertainment elsewhere. 

It is worth noting in this connection that the said 
John Willis, known as a Philadelphia ship-carpenter in 
1696, was no doubt a neighbor of John Haddon in South- 
wark, the latter furnishing him anchors for his ships be- 
fore he came to America. This explains John Haddon's 
purchase of the property on Cooper's Creek from Willis's 
son in 1698, he also living in Southwark. The absence 
of data for the elder Willis, after 1696, indicates that he 
died about that time, and the purchase was probably made 
in a settlement of his estate. The family name of Willis 
was also prominent on the old minute books of Horsly- 
down Meeting, in Southwark, when Elizabeth Haddon 
was a girl, so we can see more plainly the chain of cir- 
cumstances which finally led her to this wilderness home 
across the broad Atlantic. 

In any event, we are safe in picturing the Old Had- 
donfield house as a very modest home when the dauntless 
maiden and her servants began the American housekeep- 
ing so admirably dramatized by Longfellow's poem 
"Elizabeth." 

Much as one would love to linger in the fairy-land of 
conjecture as to the sort of house in which John and Eliza- 
beth Estaugh married and spent the first eleven years of 
their married life, let us now pass to the period in 1713, 
when they began to build a more commodious dwelling. 
Longfellow has taken Lydia Maria Child's story of the 
"Youthful Emigrant," and given us a rare pastoral of 
simple cottage life. To these the student is referred, 
while we consider the second period of Elizabeth Es- 
taugh's life marked by the building of Haddon Hall. The 
"New Haddonfield" home site was a mile distant across 
lots from the old one and a quarter-mile from the present 



296 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

junction of the King's Highway ( Haddonfield Main 
Street) and the old turnpike, now styled Haddon Avenue. 
The Hall stood on the highest knoll near the centre of a 
500-acre tract which John Haddon bought of Richard 
Matthews the same year the Willis tract was acquired. 
This plantation adjoined the other one on the south and 
east, including, on its southeastern half, nearly all of that 
part of the Borough of Haddonfield lying north and west 
of the Main Street. A long lane at right-angles to the 
present Haddon Avenue has, for many generations, given 
access to that thoroughfare, but it is quite likely that the 
original lane ran directly from near the front of the house 
to the present corner of Main and Tanner Streets, where 
a lively tradition locates the residence of Elizabeth's chief 
butler. A more eligible site for a fine house than the one 
selected by our loving pair does not exist in the neighbor- 
hood, and a fine house has always stood on this site for 
nearly two hundred years, with the exception of a few 
months in 1842, when the original Haddon Hall was 
burned and a new brick mansion was erected by Isaac H. 
Wood on the same foundations. 

The construction of Haddon Hall was not necessi- 
tated by an increase in the number of American Estaughs. 
It was undoubtedly due, in part, to the expectation that 
John Haddon and his wife would spend their declin- 
ing years in New Jersey. Some letters from London of 
that period indicate this very plainly, but the infirmities 
of old age and the dread of an ocean voyage prevented 
the journey. Other reasons made it fitting that the Es- 
taughs should enlarge their borders. John, all unwitting- 
ly perhaps, had been drawn into a strenuous business life 
as attorney for his father-in-law and sole agent of the 
Pennsylvania Land Company of London. Elizabeth, con- 
nected by ties of kinship and friendship with the most 
influential Friends of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and 
quickly assuming a responsible position in church and* 
society, had become a great entertainer. Haddonfield, at 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 297 

this time, was not the name for even a village ; it literally 
was The Fields of Haddon. There were probably not 
more than two or three dwellings on the Main Street of 
the present town, and they of the most primitive sort — a 
tavern, a blacksmith shop, a log cabin or two at magnifi- 
cent distances. In short, the town of Haddonfield was not 
on the map, not even dreamt of, when the Estaughs had 
the cellar dug for the new mansion on the knoll. Six feet 
below ground it went and two feet above the thick founda- 
tion walls of rough-hewn Pennsylvania gneiss were laid, 
no doubt being floated up the creek in barges to Stoy's 
Landing, at high-tide. The floor of this cellar was, in 
part, covered with the square flag-bricks, which, there is 
every reason to suppose, were made in England, and 
whose origin must not be confounded with that of the 
ordinary bricks of the building, made, no doubt, in the 
neighborhood. 

Having thus, like the Biblical wise man, "digged deep 
and founded the building on a rock," as literally as was 
possible in West Jersey soil, the superstructure was built 
of bricks to the height of two and a half stories in the 
main building and to 1 two stories in the annex. A word 
as to these bricks and their origin. They still do duty in 
the present buildings, and measure 8% x 4 x 2^2 inches, 
being three-fourths of an inch longer and one-quarter inch 
thicker than the present standard brick. The popular 
notion that shiploads of bricks were brought over from 
England to construct the homes of the early colonists 
may have some foundation, but we have proof that bricks 
were being manufactured in Burlington, New Jersey, be- 
fore Philadelphia was even a name. Some of William 
Penn's early building operations at the Manor, made use 
of bricks made by J. Redman, of Philadelphia, and in a 
letter of Hannah Penn's to' Penn's secretary, James 
Logan, dated 1700, she says that "a new (brick) maker 
at Burlington" now makes them "a crown a thousand 
cheaper and as much better" than Redman's sort. It is 

19 



298 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

certain that, by 1713, brickmaking had become a regular 
industry in West Jersey, and where surface clay was ac- 
cessible on a plantation, the materials for large building 
operations like this were manufactured on the estate as 
closely as possible to the operation. There is an old clay 
pond, or marsh, just across the turnpike from, and nearly 
opposite to the Haddon Hall site, and distant therefrom 
about 300 yards. From my infancy almost to this day, 
the fenny shallows of this pool have harbored many a 
mystery known only to frogs, mosquitoes and boys. Only 
of late years has it dawned upon me that this blemish on 
the once fertile field of the Redman family was a legacy 
of the thrift of their collateral ancestor, Elizabeth Es- 
taugh, in her building operations. Doubtless from this, 
or a similar depression on the farm, where clay marl of 
the best quality for firing is known to lie close to the sur- 
face, came the "English bricks" which fiction has made 
illustrious. The square flag-bricks which paved the gar- 
den walks and cellar floors (as already hinted), were prob- 
ably imported, being of finer workmanship, a different 
color and of another sort of clay. Their size was exactly 
double that of the ordinary kind. 

Unfortunately we do not now have access to any 
memoranda of the workmen or building expenses of Had- 
don Hall. These records, if existing, are probably in 
England, owned by some member of the Butcher family 
of London. It is not impossible that Francis Collins, 
master carpenter and mason, may have had a hand in 
planning and erecting the homestead. He was then an 
old man, but a close and trusty friend of Elizabeth, his 
daughters being her intimate associates. In 1675 he built 
the Stepney Meeting House, in London, and in 1682, the 
old octagonal Friends' Meeting House in Burlington, N. 
J. Another house-builder of the period was William 
Matlack, of Penisauken, who, four years later, bought 
200 acres of land of John Haddon. Or it may be an ex- 
planation of the subsequent family relations between the 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 299 

Estaughs and the Redmans, that one of the latter family, 
known to be Philadelphia carpenters, may have helped 
build Haddon Hall. In any event it could have been built 
by no other than a Quaker, and of good Quaker materials 
and workmanship! 

We owe our present knowledge of the outward ap- 
pearance and inner construction of Haddon Hall chiefly 
to two sources. The first is a small water-color sketch 
made by the brother of Thomas Redman the third, John 
Evans Redman, of Philadelphia, whose maternal ancestor 
was a niece of Elizabeth Estaugh. Redman was of an 
artistic and literary turn, and delighted in the beauties of 
his brother's country-home. He contributed some de- 
scriptive and poetical essays to the Philadelphia Casket in 
the early thirties, illustrated with woodcuts, by Gilbert, 
after the author's sketches of Haddonfield scenes. John 
Clement says that this water-color view of Haddon Hall 
was made by John Evans Redman in 1821, but a legend 
of rather modern writing on the back of it gives the date 
about ten years later. The most reliable data as to the 
interior architecture of the Hall is furnished by Rebecca 
C. W. Reeve, oldest daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth 
Wood, and who was a child of eight years when the house 
was burned. It had been the home of her parents from 
1 83 1 until the fire destroyed it, in 1842. To the kind and 
thoughtful courtesy of Rebecca Reeve and to her love of 
the parental homestead, still held by her brother, Samuel 
Wood, added to a good memory of the stirring events of 
the night of the fire, we owe much. 

I can do no better than quote from her letter to me 
about the old Hall : 

Camden, N. J. 
S. N. Rhoads : — 

Respected Friend. Thee requests a Plan of Haddon Hall, my 
old and well-loved home, which I enclose— made on a large scale 
as easier to draw. The House was brick, rough-cast and yellow— the 
Kitchen part also brick and rough-cast. The Garden wall enclosed 
the North and East sides only — a fence running along close to the 
box-tree walk, with the one yew tree near the gate. 



300 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

The path from Hall door to front yard gate was in same position 
as at present — but the flag-bricks have been twice reset — the last 
time by my brother Samuel Wood. 

The fire occurred about midnight of the 14th of April (Second 
day night of Yearly Mtg. week in Phila.) 1842. 

My Father, Isaac Hornor Wood, and Mother Elizabeth H. 
Cooper Wood — with their children, Rebecca Cooper, William Cooper, 
Isaac Hornor Jr and Alexander Cooper, the latter six months old, 
with their three Colored maids, two col'd boys and a white man, con- 
stituted the household. One colored boy lost his life in the fire. 
The fire started in kitchen, and supposedly by a man retiring late 
and dropping a match. 

Much of furniture in main part of house was saved by herculean 
efforts, and also on account of very thick wall, between the main and 
kitchen part of house. A trunk full of valuable family papers, which 
had been kept in a room on third floor for safe-keeping, was not 
secured by the man sent for them ; therefore burned, an irreparable 
loss. 

Some of the walls were standing next morning; but pulled down 
when cool, and the bricks used in rebuilding. 

The front door, (and also either the back hall door or door of 
kitchen we know not which) were lifted from the hinges and carried 
out — and are now used as cellar doors in my brother's home. 

The Barns were not damaged. 

The present descendants of E. Haddon have my parents to thank 
for the preservation, enlarging and beautifying the place ; as it had 
been sold by the Sheriff, and despoilers had been busy before their 
purchase of it. It has been in family of Isaac and Elizabeth Wood 
for seventy-seven years. 

The original of the picture sold under the name of the "Estaugh 
House 1776 to 1876" was made during the residence in it of Sarah 
Cresson, whose carriage in the lane is shown in the picture. 

Rebecca C. W. Reeve. 

February eleventh, Nineteen hundred and eight. 

It may be here added that the only building now 
standing on the property, originally constructed for Eliza- 
beth Estaugh, is her old brick Brew House. It stands 
about 30 feet from the rear of the mansion. 

The plans of the first and second stories, as remember- 
ed by Rebecca Reeve, accompanied the letter. A study of 
these, as also of Redman's sketch, shows a considerable 
annex on the north end of the main building. The front 
of this annex in the water-color view plainly appears to 
project beyond the mansion some distance, apparently 
four to six feet. In the Reeve plan the reverse of this is 
shown. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 301 

This two-story, four-roomed "Annex," as I have 
called it, with its pent-roof, low ceilings and apparent 
lack of cellar,* strongly suggests having been built be- 
fore the larger building to which it was attached. This 
is quite likely, and it would have formed ample accom- 
modations for a year or more during which the main 
building and its accessories were being leisurely com- 
pleted after the good, old, conservative Quaker fashion. 
That the two parts of Haddon Hall were separately 
built is further shown by the fact that the walls between 
them were double-thick, and the first floor of the small- 
er structure was about three feet lower than that of its 
neighbor, and the height of the ceilings so different that 
no second-story connection existed between them. 
Future researches may show that a period of five or six 
years elapsed between the construction of the two build- 
ings, and that the larger one was built with a view of 
bringing John Haddon and his wife over to live with 
their favorite children during their declining years. 
There are several well-known facts which favor this 
theory. As the present building stands on the ancient 
foundations, we know that the frontage of the old one 
was 43 feet and the gable end 36 feet wide. The annex 
must have increased the total frontage, as seen coming 
up the lane, to 60 feet. 

We know not a little of the original furnishings of 
Haddon Hall, much of these being distributed, before 
the house was burned, among the heirs of Ebenezer Hop- 
kins, Elizabeth Estaugh's adopted nephew, who was my 
great, great, great grandfather. Among these heir- 
looms are several fine old chairs; a large marble-top, 
claw-foot parlor-table; a tall, heavy, gilt-topped parlor 
mirror; a very tall and finely constructed grandfather's 
clock, made in London; a truly splendid old chest of 
drawers, etc., etc. All these show that substantial ele- 
gance, which indicates both wealth and thrift, that happy 

* The wine vault was probably under the front room of this part. 



302 Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 

combination which so many strive after, but so few at- 
tain. 

A search among the journals of traveling ministers 
of the period between 1720 and 1762 shows that Had- 
don Hall had almost a monopoly in the hospitalities 
given to "Public Friends" visiting that neighborhood. 
Thomas Story, Thomas Wilson and James Dickinson, 
Benjamin Kidd, William Reckitt, William Ellis, John 
Fothergill, Samuel Bownas, Mary (Pace) Weston, 
Catherine Peyton, Edmund Peckover and others, were 
visitors there from Old England. Besides these, were 
some from New England and New York, also many 
prominent Friends from Philadelphia and Burlington. 
Of these latter, were the Pemberton, Logan, Cadwalla- 
der, Smith, Norris, Jennings, Drinker, Wain and Rawle 
families, with some of whom John Estaugh had deal- 
ings both secular and religious. One of the most read- 
able notices of a social visit to the "Widow Estaugh's" 
is given in the now well-known book, "Hannah Logan's 
Courtship," pages 118 and 167, in which, under date of 
8th Month 29th, 1747, John Smith, the undaunted 
lover, records how he followed Hannah to Burlington 
and took her to Mount Holly that afternoon after meet- 
ing, etc. 



Journal of Thomas Clark* 

He was a son of Jeffery and Mary Clark, bom 
Feb. 1 8th, 1737, and died Oct. 29, 1809. On Jan'y 4th, 
1758, he was wrecked on a small vessel below Red 
Bank and drifted ashore at Ladd's Cove, where he was 
rescued by John Wilkins, St., John Tatum and Moses 
Curtin. He changed his mind about being a sea-faring 
man and settled in Gloucester County, where he mar- 
ried Christian Vanneman, daughter of Garrett and Chris- 
tian Vanneman, April 8, 1758. She was born Sept. 20, 

l 7A l - 

The first year after their marriage he lived with 

Isaac Cooper and his wife resided with her parents. They 

began to keep house March 25, 1759, and lived with Isaac 

Cooper as overseer in a brick house in Cooper's meadow, 

near Clomell Creek dam. 

In March, 1761, they moved on the Garrett Van- 
neman plantation, which was his birth-place. March 
25th, 1768, he moved on the farm he bought of John 
Vanneman, and while he lived on that plantation he had 
a spell of sickness and a swelling appeared in his right 
thigh. Doctor Bodo Otto wished to cut his leg off, 
which he would not permit, but consented to have it 
lanced, and then the wound healed. 

On Sept. 5, 1769, at 2.40 A. M., a comet appeared 
in the heavens. He notes that the year 1751 had no 
month of January or February, nor the first 24 days of 
March, and that the year ended on the 31st day of Decem- 
ber, and not as formerly on the 24th day of March. 
September, 1752, had none of the following days in 
England or America, viz., 3rd to 13th. He claimed to 
have taken this entry from the Hibernian Almanac, and 
that it was fresh in his memory. 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



304 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Feb'y 2, 1772, he was appointed Justice of the 
Peace and took the oath of office under the King's Gov- 
ernment and remained until the Revolution. 

April, 1775, he was elected one of the Council of 
Proprietors for the Western Division of New Jersey, 
and served for many years, part of the time its vice pres- 
ident. 

Nov. 19, 1774. Repaupa Creek was "Stoped out" 
by James Hinchman, James Steelman and himself, man- 
agers appointed by act of Assembly. 

On March 9, 1776, he was in New York and saw 
the streets entrenched and the enemy in sight. 

March 27, 1777, he moved to Deptford Township, 
on the West place, where he had a disagreeable scene 
occasioned by the war. Probably an argument with a 
tory. 

On Oct. 4, 1777, he was taken prisoner by the 
British and kept prisoner by them during an action with 
the American Shipping. It happened to be on the day 
of the battle of Germantown, and he and Tench Fran- 
cis got liberty to go home on that account. 

In the winter of 1777 he saw an ox roasted on the 
ice opposite Philadelphia. 

On Sept. 20, 1778, he was elected one of the Con- 
vention of New Jersey when they assumed the govern- 
ment of New Jersey. 

Dec. 24, 1779, he took the qualifications to the gov- 
ernment established under Authority of the People. 

March 13, 1782, he moved on the plantation he 
bought of Samuel Paul, Sr., in Greenwich Twp. 

When he was 25 years of age he weighed 137 lbs. 
and 237 at the age of 64. 

Oct., 1784, he was elected an Assemblyman for the 
County of Gloucester and served thereafter for a period 
of seven years in the N. J. Legislature. 

In Nov., 1795, and again in Nov., 1800, he was 
elected a Judge and Justice of the Peace of Gloucester 
Co. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 305 

His children were: Edith, born May 5, 1759, mar- 
ried May 21, 1777, to David Hendrickson; Mary, born 
Jan. 28, 1 761, married Jan'y 7, 1780, to Joseph Paul; 
Anne, born March 4, 1763, married Feb'y 10, 1786, to 
Samuel D. Paul; Elizabeth, born Dec. 29, 1764, married 
Feb'y 10, 1786, to Edmund Weatherby, died Sept. 12, 
1795; buried at Solomon's Meeting; Thos Clark, Jr., 
born Jan'y 18, 1767, married, Dec. 21, 1786, Achsah 
Pancoast; Lydia, born March 26, 1769, married Aug. 
21, 1788, Andras Ridgway; died Sept 4, 1804, left 6 
sons and 2 daughters, buried at E. Wetherby's ; Jeffry 
Clark, Jr., born Nov. 20, 1771, married Aug 12, 1790, 
to Rachel Weatherby; Christian, born July 12, 1774, 
married Sept. 30, 1790, to James C. Wood; Joseph, 
born Sept. 23, 1776, married Sept. 22, 1796, Elizabeth 
Tiers; John, born Apr. 3, 1779, married Nov. 7, 1799, 
to Mary Lane. 

His father and mother were buried in St. Paul's 
Church Yard, Philadelphia. 

His brother Timothy Clark was buried at Clomell 
on Vanneman's plantation, in the orchard, and had a 
head and foot-stone marked by Thos. Clark. 

His sister Ann Day, wife of Charles Day, died 
about Sept., 1755, and was buried in Coles Churchyard 
in Waterford Twp. Had a tombstone. 

His brother George was buried in a private burial 
ground in Salem. He died Dec, 1767, aged about 21 
years. 

July 4th, 1800, he manumitted a man slave he had 
raised in his family. 

Oct., 1800, a thunder and lightning storm in Green- 
wich and Deptford Townships near Mantua Creek lower 
bridge, set fire to James Hinchman's barn, and it and its 
contents of grain and hay were consumed. Also set fire 
to three different heaps of cornstalks in George Law- 
rence's field on the Death of the Fox place. 



306 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

July 23, 1802. Thomas Reeves, a man of good 
sense and character, was killed by lightning. 

May 8th, 1803. There was a snow about ankle 
deep. 

Between October, 1802, and October, 1803, New 
Jersey was without a governor because of a tie in the 
legislature. 

June 1st, 1804. He laid the big sluice in the 
meadow on Mantua Creek. 

When he was 64 years of age he wrote an account 
of his life in which he said he bought and read books 
and became a surveyor and conveyancer, despite his 
natural disabilities. He was executor of many estates 
and guardian of minors. He built a house of worship 
in Greenwich Township, named Berkley, in memory of 
Lord Berkley, proprietor of West New Jersey. He 
claimed that he was never sued for a just debt, nor 
scarcely ever sued any person, and that no person was 
ever detained in jail on his account, nor their lands or 
goods sold. "This gives peace to the mind and to God 
that passeth all understanding." 

In his Journal he wrote poetry and observations on 
various subjects. He also recorded some well known 
happenings. He closes it with "This Journal is writ with 
my own hand" * * * "from other books so as to have 
them together." 

These extracts were made from a copy of the Jour- 
nal in possession of L. Irving Reichner, Esq., a descend- 
ant of Thomas Clark. 



Battle of Chestnut Neck* 

This important Battle in Old Gloucester County in 
what is now Atlantic County is, like the Battle of Red 
Bank, called to mind by a beautiful monument overlook- 
ing the mouth of Mullica River, erected by the State of 
New Jersey and dedicated Oct. 6, 191 1. The inscription 
reads "In honor of the brave patriots who defended their 
liberties and their homes in a battle fought near this site 
Oct. 6, 1778." Even at this late date cannon balls are 
dredged up by the oyster tongers of Great Bay and plowed 
up by the farmers of Chestnut Neck and Clarks Landing. 

The British fleet was sent to Little Egg Harbor to 
destroy the Iron Works at Batsto furnace at the forks of 
the Mullica River and destroy the ships secreted in the 
waters of Little Egg Harbor bay and river and the 
battle of Chestnut Neck resulted. The British burned 
the town of Chestnut Neck, which was then one of 
the largest settlements on the New Jersey Coast. They 
also destroyed the ships in the harbor before being driven 
away by Pulaski's Legion. 

At low tide the wreck of a ship may be seen at Green 
Bank and two others at Chestnut Neck. The locality is 
full of traditions of the Revolution. The women and chil- 
dren fled to the swampy woods while the men formed 
squads to defend their homes. 

Lewis French, who donated the ground for the monu- 
ment, told me that an English officer was killed and buried 
between his house and the present road, and that another 
English soldier was killed by a militiaman he was chasing 
around the house that then occupied the site of the present 
house which was built a year or so after the battle, the 
English having burned the original one, together with 
several others. 

* By Frank H. Stewart. 



308 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

A few hundred yards away towards the bay is a 
mound known since the battle as Fort Hill. 

Mr. French while tonging for oysters discovered the 
wreck of one of the ships sunk during the battle. He 
tonged out about one hundred bushels of English cannel 
coal of fine quality and used it aboard his boat. 

In the gravel pit, adjacent to his home, several skele- 
tons have been found, one of which was in good condition 
and was buried under the monument. 

Paine's tavern, a famous hostelry of that period, is 
said to have been burned, as were a number of houses on 
the other side of the river. 

The number of iron relics, such as hand made nails, 
bolts and hinges, together with cannon balls, grape shot 
and gun barrels found in the neighborhood, are mute evi- 
dences of the devastation wrought there. 

Near the site of the warehouse where the American 
privateers stored their spoils before it was carted away to 
Philadelphia many copper coins and Indian relics have 
been found. 

The foundations of the old houses are occasionally 
found while the ground is being cultivated. 



Life of Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr.* 

Dr. Bodo Otto, Jr., was the brother, son, grandson 
and father of distinguished physicians. With his brother, 
Dr. John A. Otto, and his father, Dr. Bodo Otto, Sr., he 
served at Valley Forge during the memorable winter of 
1777-8 in the hospital of which his father was Chief 
Surgeon. 

Born in Hanover, Germany, September 14, 1748, he 
was brought to Philadelphia as a child of four years, by 
his father, Dr. Bodo Otto, Sr. After receiving as com- 
plete a preliminary education as the country afforded he 
pursued his medical studies under the instruction of his 
father, receiving his degree as B. M. (Bachelor of Medi- 
cine) in 1 77 1, from the University of Pennsylvania. He 
settled in Gloucester County, N. J., a few miles from 
Swedesboro. Raccoon Creek flows past this point to the 
Delaware River, and the settlement seems to have been 
called at that time Raccoon. f The mother of his children, 
Catharine Schweighauser, evaded the following dire warn- 
ings which her mother, Mrs. Jean Conrad Schweighauser 
(Margaret Klampffer), wrote in German in her note 
book| on March 23, 1763, when her daughter was twelve 
years old : "George Keller, of Canastoga, told me that my 
daughter Catharine was to be on her guard against falling 
or fire every year on her birthday — especially when Saturn 
and the Moon or Mars and the Moon are in conjunction 
in the constellation of the water-bearer, which will occur 
when she is 19 years of age — it is then she has to be most 
careful ; and every 19 years she is to be on her guard — 
and he says that my son Jacob would become very dornes- 
* By Orro Tod Mallery, his great-great-grandson. 

t My authority for this name is a note in my possession, dated 17S3, 
signed by the then "Rector of the Lutheran Church at Racoon", in which 
the Rector, Nicholas Collin, gives the birthdays of the 4 children of Bodo 
Otto, Jr., and states that he baptized the last three. 

t Original in possession of the writer. 



310 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

tic" (and that he would invent something new, if he lived 
long enough). 

The next year after receiving his medical degree he 
married, as told in the following notation written in 
French* by his father-in-law, John (or Jean) Conrad 
Schweighauser: "On the 6th of February, 1772, between 
seven and eight in the evening my daughter Catharine 
(Schweighauser) was married (in Philadelphia) to Dr. 
Bodo Otto, Jr., who 1 lives in the Jersey about 15 miles 
from Philadelphia. She went away with him Feb. 11, 
1772, at 11 o'clock in the morning." 

During Bodo's short, active and useful career in 
camp, hospital and legislative chamber, his faithful wife 
made a comfortable home in Swedesboro* for the children, 
Catharine Margaret, John Conrad (the distinguished 
Philadelphia physician) and Jacob. When Jacob was 
three months old, in March, 1778, a fight occurred on the 
grounds surrounding their home, between Col. Maw- 
hood's Regiment of British and the Americans. (See 
Note 1 ) . The house and barn were burned. Mrs. Bodo 
Otto was driven from their home with her young brood, 
the youngest, baby Jacob, in her arms. The father was 
away from home at this time. The date corresponds with 
that of his service at Valley Forge, the most gloomy and 
heart-breaking months of the War for Independence. 
Mother and children found shelter among neighbors until 
a new home was found. In the "History of Gloucester 
County, N. J." (pp. 300) an old inhabitant is quoted as 
pointing out in the middle of the 19th century the brick 
house of Dr. Bodo Otto 1 , Jr., at Swedesboro, built previous 
to the Revolution, and later occupied by William Welch. 
In this house the fourth and last child was probably born, 
Daniel, on Jan. 15, 1780, and all four children were 
reared. 

An entry in an old family Bible gives an account of 
the destruction of the Swedesboro house and farm at 

• Original in possession of the writer. 
Note 1. Prom "History of Medical Men in New Jersey", by Wickes. 



Notes on Oed Gloucester County. 311 

variance with the preceding. The entry in the Bible was 
made about 1840. The Bible version was included in an 
address before the College of Physicians of Philadelphia 
in 1845, by Dr. Isaac Parrish, in a Biographical Memoir 
concerning Dr. John Conrad Otto, the son of Bodo Otto. 
Jr. Dr. Parrish's account reads : "During Dr. Bodo 
Otto, Jr's, absence from home on military duty, his house 
was fired by his political antagonists, the Tories, and his 
wife and several young children were driven from their 
home in the midst of an inclement season, while all the 
products of the farm were consumed. The incendiaries 
were apprehended and convicted; and notwithstanding 
the calamity into which their acts had plunged him, Dr. 
Otto interferred in their behalf, and actually took a long 
journey on horseback to obtain their pardon. His mis- 
sion was successful, but being overtaken by a violent 
storm, he contracted a severe catarrh, followed by pul- 
monary consumption, and died. The version in the Bible 
in the handwriting of his grandmother, Janette Otto 
(Mrs. Judge Garrick Mallery) seems to have been the 
source of Dr. Parrish's address, similar words occurring 
in both. The Bible version says that in fording a stream, 
during a violent storm, he contracted a severe cold which 
terminated his life. The present writer is unable to say 
whether the historical account or the family account is the 
true one. 

Whatever may have been the circumstances which 
destroyed his residence, the short career which gave him 
his reputation and character begins with his warm espousal 
of the patriot cause, his support of the Provincial Congress 
which met at Trenton, N. J., on Nov. 23, 1775, and after- 
wards at Burlington and New Brunswick. By that body 
he was appointed, July 24, 1776, Surgeon of the Battalion, 
under command of Col. Chas. Read, destined to reinforce 
the flying camp. (See Note 2). This was less than three 
weeks after the Declaration of Independence. Subsequent- 
Note 2. See "History of Medical Men in New Jersey", by Wickes. 



312 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

ly he was elected to the Senate of New Jersey, then com- 
missioned as Colonel of State Troops, First Battalion, 
Gloucester County. 

The personalities who bore the strain, suffering and 
discouragements of Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-8 
have won a lasting place in the hearts of their fellow 
countrymen. The administration of a modern well-equip- 
ped army hospital requires sufficient fortitude to test the 
courage and ability of its medical officers. How much 
more severe must have been the test at Valley Forge, 
where food was scarce and inferior, typhoid rampant, 
clothing insufficient, the cold intense, and all the diseases 
raging which follow underfeeding and exposure? Dr. 
Bodo Otto, Jr., his father, Bodo Otto, Sr., and his brother, 
Dr. John A. Otto, struggled manfully against disease, 
discouragement, and doubt, while the great British army 
lived in comfort and feasted in luxury in Philadelphia. A 
family tradition attributes the following letter to Dr. Bodo 
Otto, Jr., from Valley Forge, addressed to his wife in 
Swedesboro : 

"My Darling Wife: 

I miss you and the children. I miss your good cooking. Here 
we have to change the order of our courses to get variety. For 
breakfast we have bacon and smoke, for lunch, smoke and bacon, 
for supper, smoke." 

He did not long survive the completion of his mili- 
tary duties, but died before his venerable father, on Jan. 
29, 1782, in the 34th year of his age, in his Swedesboro 
house, and lies buried in the churchyard of the Episcopal 
Church there, of which he had been a vestryman. 



Custom House at Little Egg Harbor * 

Little Egg Harbor was a port of entry and a great 
deal of the importations from Europe and the West Indies 
came into Gloucester County via that section. Ebenezer 
Tucker, Esq., a Revolutionary soldier, was collector, sur- 
veyor and inspector during the last decade of the 18th 
century. His books of records cannot now be found but 
many manuscript letters and printed circulars of instruc- 
tion, copies of U. S. laws from Alexander Hamilton, 
Tench Coxe, W. Eveleigh, Comptroller, Joseph Nourse, 
Register, Oliver Wolcott, Timothy Pickering, Aaron 
Dunham and others still exist. 

Numerous blank forms for various kinds of reports 
to be made under the different laws, and forms for ex- 
pense reports, fees, drawbacks, imports, exports, bonds, 
gauging, measuring, are carefully filed and saved. 

The earliest blank reports were for the last quarter 
of the year 1789, and the first letter was a manuscript cir- 
cular signed by A. Hamilton, dated Oct. 10, 1789, to the 
effect that manifests of cargoes must be delivered to the 
Collectors of the Ports from which they are to sail. The 
object of this provision was to obtain a knowledge of the 
exports. 

On February 27, 1790, N. Eveleigh wrote Surveyor 
Tucker requesting that his oath of office and bond with 
sufficient security be transmitted as early as possible. He 
said they were already six months beyond the three months 
allowed by law. The communications were transmitted 
by means of business men travelling back and forth. 

The settlement of Chestnut Neck on the southerly 
side of the Mullica or Little Egg Harbor River extended 
to Nacot Creek and probably got its name from the trees 
that predominated there. It was an important community 
composed of seafaring people and traders. 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



314 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Further up the Little Egg Harbor river at its forks 
was the center of merchandise distribution. 

Among the well known Captains who in 1793 sailed 
to Amsterdam, Bilboa, Antigua, Nantz and other ports 
were Joseph Jones, Benjamin Adams, John Burrowes, 
Thomas Walker, Jeremiah Somers. Among the places 
where boats were built, Raccoon Creek, Nacot Creek and 
Great Egg Harbor are mentioned. 

Several lists of ships whose papers were taken by- 
force and retained, together with printed lists of American 
seamen detained abroad because of lack of citizenship 
papers, are filed with the custom house papers of Little 
Egg Harbor. 

In a controversy between Silas Crane, a judge and 
soldier of the Revolution, who succeeded Ebenezer Tuck- 
er as Collector, and Collector Winner of Somers Point, we 
gain a small list of ships and masters of 1808, viz. : 

Ship "Regulata," Wm. Clark, Master; Sloop 
"Orange," John Endicott, Master; Sloop "Liberty," Rich- 
ard Leeds, Master; Ship "Dolphin," Richard Risley, 
Master; Sloop "Juno," Augustus Sooy, Master. 

A little later the names of Samuel Loveland, Thomas 
Rose, Bennett Rose and others appear. 

The records contain much about wrecks, sales of 
boats, tariffs, privateers of the war of 18 12, prisoners of 
war, and a few signatures of famous men like James 
Monroe and James Madison, are conspicuous. The early 
records of the port of Great Egg Harbor (Somers Point) 
seem to be mislaid or destroyed. Diligent effort on my 
part to find them availed nothing. It is quite possible that 
a thorough investigation would determine their fate. 



Diary of Ann Whitall * 

James Whitall was born 7 mc-4-1717 O. S. Died 9 mo. -29- 
1808. 

Ann, his wife, was the daughter of John and Ann Cooper. She 
was born 4 mo. -23-1716 ; died 9-22-1797. 

She was a pious Quakeress. Her manuscript diary 
from 7th day of 2 mo., 1760, to 25th day nth mo., 1762. 
is now in possession of Logan Pearsoll Smith, Esq., of 
England, and these extracts were made from a copy 
given by him to Albert Cook Myers, who has spent 
several years on historical matters pertaining to the 
early settlements on the Delaware River. 

4-24-1760. Hab. Ward & Mos. Ward came here 
to the dam there has been so much quarreling about and 
brought two axes, two mattocks and two spades to cut 
the dam down and to work they went, and Sparks 
brought the Sheriff and there was miserable work but 
they tied them and took them to Joseph Harrisons, and 
from there to jail. 

In her diary she gives her pedigree and mentions 
a long list of trials and tribulations, mostly trivial. She 
was a faithful attendant at Friends' meetings and com- 
ments freely on what interested her. On 1st day 7 mo. 
1760 she writes: Now been married about twenty years. 
She criticizes a marriage between Abe Chatting and 
Ruth Wood, widow and widower, 22-7 mo. 1760. 

21, 9, 1760. Benagy Andrews lives with Kate now 
Tom. is dead. Sam. died in the fall and Tom. in the 
Spring, both with the small pox. They did not live 
long after their dear father Peter Andrews. 

16-11-1760. Hannah Andrews buried. 

22-11-1760. Old Joshua Lord laid in his grave. 

Chatfield, who was to marry Hannah Andrews, died 
a week after her. 

James Browns wife dead. 

Sam'l Abbott is dead. 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



n« r- v 7m 



316 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

3-12 mo. 1760. Alice Brown laid in her grave. 

Jan. C. Crosway from old England at Haddonfield 
meeting. 

Went to meeting in wagon. 

Grieves over smallness of meeting. Uncle James 
Lord died a young man. My father was taken away. 
Joseph Gibson went to Salem. Joseph Tomlinson to 
Haddonfield. 

5 day 4 mo. 1761. David Cooper gone to Assembly 
for the first time. 

6-9 mo. 1 761. First day to meeting, next day to 
Haddonfield. Now their fine carriage house is finished 
and painted. Our friend Peter Fiern was there to speak. 

Grace Fisher and Sarah Hopkins went to Egg Har- 
bor meeting 1 day 10 mo. 1761, with Josiah Albertson. 

Joseph White back from Old England. 

5 day-12-1716. First youths meeting at Woodbury 
we have had. 

Hannah Smith gone to her long home. 

1 6-3- 1 762. Richard Matlacks wife deceased. 

1 8-3- 1 762. John Mickle is married. 

26-3-1762. A very full Quarterly meeting. John 
Woolman, Joseph White and Betty Mores in attendance. 
A wonderful meeting it was. It seems people have 
grown some better since last fall. 

William Hunt from Carolina, John Woolmans 
cousin, at meeting. 

John Hopkins is married 4 day 19th of 5 mo. 1762. 

Betty Sloan married on 5th day. 

James Brown married on 6th day to Katy Andrews. 

18-4 mo. 1762. David Coopers house burned down. 

6-7 mo. 1762. David Cooper and his six children 
and our sister Hannah have a home to live in again. 

1 7-9- 1 762. Sarah Wood has changed her name to 
Tatum. 

1 9-4- 1 762. James Whital married. 

23-6-1780. John Tatum married again to Eliza- 
beth Cooper. 



Historical Notes 



MARK NEWBIE'S IRISH PENCE. 

In the spring of 1682 Mark Newbie succeeded in 
having a law passed making his imported half-pence 
legal tender to the extent of five shillings. Newbie was 
a member of the West Jersey Assembly, was one of the 
first settlers and his coins are now quite rare. It was 
about one hundred years later that the Colony of New 
Jersey issued its own copper cents. 

THINGS TO DO. 

The site of Fort Nassau, built in 1623, should be ap- 
propriately marked, also the first churches that have long 
since passed away. 

A complete list of all tombstone inscriptions of aban- 
doned graveyards, both public and private, should be made 
and published before vandalism and age obliterate them 
forever. All graveyards should be taken over and kept 
in repair by public authority. For the sake of a few extra 
ears of corn many burial plots forever reserved in recorded 
deeds have been farmed over to the disgrace of avarice. 

The Indian trails should be located and marked; 
also the Indian village sites. 

The first roads should be mapped and published 
and the locations of the old inns and taverns and ferries 
indicated thereon. 

Old Colonial homesteads should be photographed or 
sketched. 

EARGE WHITE OAKS. 

On the banks of Mantua Creek are two mammoth 
oak trees. The one near Mt. Royal is known as the Tatem 
*By Frank H. Stewart. 



318 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

oak, and the one near Mantua as the Rose or Avis oak. 
The 1917 measurements made by Wm. P. Haines follow : 

Tatem. Rose or Avis. 

Height 92 ft. 87 ft. 

Girth at 6 ft 27 ft. 19 ft. 7 in. 

Girth at 2 ft 32 ft. 24 ft. 

Spread of branches no ft. 105 ft. 

The fine old white oak at Mickleton, which measured 
17 ft. 6 in. in girth at 2 feet above the ground in 1905, 
is now dead. It had a spread of 87 ft. 

GLOUCESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

This splendid organization perhaps more than any 
other is composed almost entirely of the descendants of 
the ancient and determined pioneers of Old Gloucester. 
It has its own building, on the Old King's Highway, in 
Woodbury, which contains a very rare collection of refer- 
ence books; a large collection of furniture, including the 
writing desk of Elizabeth Haddon, pictures, china, manu- 
scripts and other relics of all kinds. 

Among its rare manuscript treasures are several that 
belonged to Washington and indorsed by him. The most 
valuable one is probably an indemnity bond given to 
Washington, while President, by the famous and last sur- 
vivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. There are also several 
deeds for land on the Potomac River. Another rare docu- 
ment, dated 1675, is signed by John Fenwick, who found- 
ed Salem, and witnessed by Richard Noble, the surveyor, 
who laid out the city of Burlington. 

It was through the efforts of the Gloucester County 
Historical Society that the famous battlefield of Red Bank 
and the handsome old Moravian Church were saved for 
the future. From time to time many historical papers 
have been read before the Society, and its publications are 
highly prized by those interested in history and antiqui- 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 319 

ties. John G. Whitall, a descendant of Ann Whitall, 
the heroine of Red Bank, is its President, and Dr. Wallace 
McGeorge, chairman Board of Trustees, W. M. Carter, 
secretary. 

1794 MILITARY CENSUS. 

In the year 1794 a military census was taken of all 
the male residents of Old Gloucester between the age of 
18 and 45 years. Fortunately the scraps of paper con- 
taining several thousands of these names have escaped 
destruction so far and through the kindness of Miss Sarah 
A. Risley they were copied and a list of the names has 
been presented to The Genealogical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

GLOUCESTER COUNTY POST OFFICES. 

The post masters in Gloucester County for the year 
1 800 were : 

Nathan Donnell, of Woodbury, who received $33.50 
for his services for the year. 

John Croes, of Swedesboro, received $11.20. 

Reynold Keen, of Atsion, received $14.74. 

John Branson, of Haddonfield, no amount mentioned. 

RATTLESNAKE AT RACCOON. 

The first settlers of Old Gloucester, as is shown by the 
early records, were harassed by the depredations of wild 
beasts. Snakes also were numerous and we find in the 
Raccoon Church records that Anders Lock, one of the 
Swedes, died from the bite of a rattlesnake and was 
buried August 5, 17 16. 

JAMES LAWRENCE. 
"Don't give up the Ship." 

Was born Oct. 1, 1781, at Burlington, N. J. He 
studied law with his brother John, of Woodbury, for two 
years 1796-8. Ernest Redfield, Esq., now has some of 



320 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

his law books. He entered the U. S. Navy Sept. 4, 1798, 
as a midshipman, and served through the war with France. 
In 1800 he was acting lieutenant on the sloop of war 
"John Adams." He served under his school-boy chum, 
Stephen Decatur, in the Mediterranean squadron, during 
the war with Tripoli, and received by resolution of Con- 
gress a sword for gallantry in action. During the war 
of 1 81 2 he served on the Frigate "Constitution" and other 
famous ships. While in command of the Frigate "Chesa- 
peake" he engaged the British Frigate "Shannon" off 
Boston, Mass., and was mortally wounded June 1, 18 13, 
and died aboard his ship at sea four days later. He was 
buried at Halifax, N. S., with military honors, and on 
Sept. 16, 1813, his remains were removed to Trinity 
Churchyard, New York. 

RICHARD SOMERS. 

Born at Somers Point, Sept. 15, 1778, was appointed 
a midshipman April 30, 1798. He served on the Frigate 
"United States" during the war with France, and during 
the war with Tripoli, like Stephen Decatur and James 
Lawrence, was in the Mediterranean squadron. He lost 
his life while in command of the "Ketch Intrepid," a fire 
ship, Sept. 4, 1804. The "Intrepid" was blown up and 
none of the officers or crew were saved. 

GLOUCESTER COUNTY FAMILIES IN THE WEST. 

In the first decade of the last century, and later, hun- 
dreds of persons in Gloucester County removed to Ohio 
and westward. Many of the family names of Old Glou- 
cester County are now prevalent in Cincinnati and there- 
abouts. One hundred years ago it took approximately 
thirty days to go by loaded wagon from the Great Egg 
Harbor section to the valley of the "Miami Country" in 
Ohio. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 321 

men of the revolution. 

Among the prominent men of Old Gloucester County 
during the war of the Revolution who deserve mention 
were John Cooper, John Wilkins, John Sparks, Tench 
Francis, Colonels Joseph Ellis, Elijah Clark, Bodo Otto, 
Israel Shreeve, Robert Brown, Joseph Hugg, Richard 
Somers, Samuel Tonkin, Majors Samuel Flanningham, 
Richard Wescott, Captains Samuel Hugg, Robert Tay- 
lor, Benjamin Whitall, John Davis, John Wood, William 
Ellis, Jeremiah Smith, George Payne and Samuel Shreeve, 
Paymaster John Little, Surgeon Thomas Hendry. 

BATTLE OF GLOUCESTER. 

In a letter from Lafayette to Washington, dated Had- 
donfield, November 26, 1777, a full and complete account 
is given of the Battle of Gloucester. 

Lafayette was in command of a detachment of the 
New Jersey Militia and as a result of the victory which 
caused the retirement of the British across the Delaware 
from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, Washington suggested 
to Congress that Lafayette be given command of a divi- 
sion of the Continental Army. Congress complied with 
the suggestion and a few days later Lafayette was honor- 
ed with a commission. Colonel Joseph Ellis, of Glouces- 
ter County, was also in the engagement, which had far 
reaching effects and gave the New Jersey Militia a fine 
reputation that still exists. 



Gloucester Fox Hunting Club* 

This famous sporting club, composed of prominent 
men of Gloucester County and Philadelphia according- to 
manuscript reminiscences written by one of its members 
about one hundred years ago, was established early in the 
1 8th century; interest waned for a time; about 1760 it 
was revived. Capt. Samuel Morris for a long time prior 
to 1807 was annually re-chosen as its president. When 
age compelled him to give up riding a horse he rode in a 
light wagon to the hunting place, which was carefully 
selected where good roads intersected each other and 
where the cry of the pack of hounds constantly saluted 
the ear. 

Among the members prior to the Revolution were 
Anthony Rainey, Joshua Gatcliff, Samuel Gatcliff, and 
Solomon Park, the watch maker of North Front Street, 
Philadelphia. The latter was an active hunter and mem- 
ber until 18 1 5, when he was over seventy years of age. 

In the year 1800 the members numbered about thirty, 
about half of whom were active hunters. The other half 
preferred the festivity of the hunting dinner to the excite- 
ment of the chase. 

Robert Wharton, Mayor of Philadelphia, succeeded 
Capt. Morris as president. Capt. Charles Ross, of the 
First Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry, Capt. Wm. 
Davy of the merchant service, Benj. West, G. L. and J. 
Morris, Sr., Edward Davies, Solomon Park, A. M. Buck- 
ley, all of Philadelphia; General Franklin Davenport, John 
Lawrence and James B. Cooper, of Woodbury; Col. 
Joshua Howell, of Fancy Hill in Gloucester, Capt. Samuel 
Whitall, of Red Bank; Col. Heston, of Glassboro, and 
Jonas Cattell, guide and whipper-in, now upward of 72 
years old, were members. With most of these gentlemen 
* By Frank H. Stewart. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 323 

and R. M. Lewis, C. Clay, J. Morrell, A,. Stacker, E. & B. 
Tilghman, A. Erwin and Milnor the unknown an- 
nalist had the pleasure of frequently crossing the pines 
and plains of Gloucester County between the years 1809 
and 18 19. 

A fine pack of imported fox hounds was distributed 
among the sportsmen of West New Jersey, where their 
progeny still existed in 1819. 

The author of the reminiscences wrote that Jonas 
Cattell could track a fox on the leaf covered ground of 
a forest and when the dogs struck a scent determine 
whether it was the trail of a fox or rabbit. He describes 
the fox as a wary animal going down the middle of a 
brook or over the top of a rail fence to throw the dogs 
off the trail. An old fox is as untamable as a tiger. A 
cub may be domesticated within a year but will never be 
sociable except with his kind feeder. Let him loose and 
he will ungratefully change his domestic for his natural 
wild state. 

He refers to the grey fox as of the native family and 
the more mischievous red skin stock as imported rogues 
of infamous character. 

The stock suffering farmer hailed the hounds and 
huntsman with delight, as friends free to enter his enclo- 
sures and traverse his fields and his woods unmolested 
from the 10th of October to the 10th of April. The farm- 
ers hearing the music of the dogs would often hastily 
bridle a horse and without a saddle join the hunt, fre- 
quently acting as guides in the swamps and woods, and 
when Reynard was in a hole, generally on the sunny side 
of a hill, would help dig him out with pick and spade. 

Sometimes the chase resulted in the capture of a 
skunk or a ground hog and the members in these instances 
had no rivalry or contention for the Brush, as when sly 
old Reynard was captured. Blackwoodtown was then a 
fair sized village and surrounded on every side by woods 
well inhabited by foxes who always had a penchant to be 



324 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

within the hearing of the crow of the cock. They, how- 
ever, took pains to have distant places of retreat and refuge 
in case of a rout from their home storehouses. 

The huntsmen were occasionally thrown by their 
horses and the chase often extended as far as twenty-five 
miles and lasted for hours. 

NOTE— This club frequently met at the close of the day at the home 
of Col. Heston, in Glassboro, which is still standing and now occupied by 
Isaac Moffett. In the living room of that house tradition says that steps 
were first taken for the organization of the First Troop of Philadelphia 
City Cavalry. 



Docket of John Litle, J. P.* 

Of Newton Township 

This book, commencing Nov. 30, 1781, and continu- 
ing for a period of two years, was recently found in Phila- 
delphia and presented to The Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania. It is highly probable that he was the paymaster 
of the Revolution from Gloucester County. 

On the first page of his docket is a list of the County 
Officers as follows : 

Councilors — Elijah Clark, Joseph Hugg. 

Assemblymen — Joseph Cooper, Samuel Hugg, Joseph 
Ellis. 

County Clerk — Elijah Clark. 

Sheriff — Thomas Denny. 

Judges of Quarter Sessions — John Cooper, Joseph 
Hugg, John Wilkins. 

Justices — Waterford township, John Griffiths ; New- 
ton township, John Litle, Samuel Kinnard; Deptford 
township, John Cooper, John Wilkins, Joseph Hugg, 
John Sparks; Galloway township, Robert Morss, Thos. 
Reynard ; Great Egg Harbor township, Thos. Champion, 
Joshua Smith, Samuel Liyors. 

Tozvnship Clerk — Newton township, I. Harrison. 

Constables — Waterford township, Benj. Cozens, 
John Shivers; Newton township, Isaac Cox; Gloucester 
township, Barney Owen, Joshua Beats. 

The first case, January 11, 1782, is that of the State 
vs. Lewis McKnight, on information of Major Sparks, 
who charged the defendant with having two chests of 
British goods clandestinely brought from the enemy. The 
defendant produced a passport from Peter Furman, J. P., 
to the effect that the goods might be conveyed to Phila- 
delphia. Thomas Parker and Brother made oaths and 
declared that the goods had been seized and sold as prize 

*By Frank H. Stewart, 11/23/17. 



326 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

goods, according- to law of the State, and that the defend- 
ant had legal right to transport the goods. Defendant 
was dismissed. 

Jan. 15, 1782. Squire Litle issued a pass to Wil- 
liam Cassady to go on his lawful business while behaving 
as a good subject of the United States. 

Jan. 28, 1782. He issued a pass to Peter Jones. 

March 2, 1782. William Tereen made oath that 
fourteen pieces of Calimenco and two pieces of Durant 
and ninety-five silk handkerchiefs in his charge, on the 
way to Col. Summers of Philadelphia, were sent from 
Joseph Edwards, Cape May, and that they had been seized 
and sold as prize goods of the enemy. 

April 27, 1782. William Wood was bound out by 
his father, James Wood, to Joshua Cooper for 16 years 6 
mos. until he reach the age of 21 years. His master was 
to give him 6 months schooling, teach him the art of hus- 
bandry and at the end of the apprenticeship give him two 
suits of clothes, one of them new. 

Aug. 31, 1782. Mary Anderson made a Deed of 
Gift to her daughters Hannah and Phoebe Anderson of 
all her property, real and personal. Andrew Anderson, 
Jr., was appointed guardian. 

Oct. 15, 1782. This day John Litle at the request 
of Captain John Davis went to the State prison in Phila- 
delphia and examined the seven deserters captured by 
Captain Davis at Little Egg Harbor September 2nd, and 
by him delivered to Elijah Weed (?) keeper of said 
prison, on the 7th following. The prisoners of war were : 





British Regt. 


Commanded by 


David Munrow, 


82d 


Lt. Col. Guning. 


Alex. Wilson, 


82d 


Lt. Col. Guning. 


David Eker, 


2 2d 


Capt. Wm. Riman 


Andrew Mackintosh, 


2lSt 


Lt. Col. Hamilton, 



Samuel Bone, Hazards Corps, 

Wm. Sleaton, Royal Artillery, Capt. Rockford. 
Michael McKnight, 53d Grenadiers, 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 327 

Nov. 15. 1782. Jacob Spencer, Constable, brought 
Donald McCloud, who upon examination confessed him- 
self a British prisoner of war taken with Cornwallis and 
a deserter from Little York belonging to the 76th Regi- 
ment. 

Nov. 3, 1782. He married William Williams, of 
Pennsylvania, to Rebecca Garrison, of New Jersey. 

Dec. 31, 1782. James Rud, formerly of West 
Florida, took the oath of allegiance to the United States. 
Jan. 16, 1783. He married William Watson to 
Sarah Ackley both of Gloucester County. 

Feb. 11, 1783. Sarah Land bound her daughter, 
Clarissa Cassaday, as apprentice to Joshua Cooper and 
wife for 12 years 4 mos. 5 das. to the age of 18 years. 

March 8, 1783. He committed a negro woman, 
the property of Edward Pole, of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, to Gloucester jail as a runaway. 

March 14, 1783. Marmaduke Cooper took the 
oath of allegiance and fidelity to this State. 

March 27, 1783. Hezekiah Kemble qualified as 
Constable for the Township of Newton to act as Deputy 
for William Cooper, ferry man. 

July 23, 1783. Elias Covenover was bound by his 
mother, Sarah Gandy, of Galloway township, to Jacob 
Mills, blacksmith of Waterford township, for 7 years 2 
mos. 7 days until he reach the age of 21 years. 

Justice of Peace Litle had the usual number of suits 
for small amounts tried before him, and from them we 
glean the following names of men of Old Gloucester 
County: Hugh Cooper, Enoch Gandy, Hosea Oliphant, 
James Chattin, James Clement, John Huston, Jacob Clem- 
ent, Charles Hubs, Isaac Githens, Parr Willard, Isaac 
Burroughs, William Carter, Isaiah Toy, Joseph Rud- 
derow, Henry Branson, Isaac Horner, Timothy Middle- 
ton, Jacob Baldin, Moses Hustis, Benj. Middleton, Joseph 
Burroughs. Chas. French, John Williamson, Sam'l Bur- 



328 Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

roughs, Francis Key, Thos. Ostler, Benj. Inskeep, Joseph 
Davis, Cumberland Sheppard, John Wells, John Cook, 
Martha Willson, Aaron Holmes, Benj. Haines, Thos. 
Carter, Henry Daniel, Jacob Browning, John Heritage, 
Thos. Hampton and others. 



Historical References 

Among the best sources of information about Old 
Gloucester County are the following : 

Mickle's "Reminiscenses of Old Gloucester." 
\/ Clement's "First Settlers in Newton Township." 

Proceedings West New Jersey Surveyors' Associa- 
tion, 1880. 

Carter's "Woodbury and Vicinity." 

Kalm's "Travels in North America." 

Publications of the Gloucester County Historical 
Society. 

Prowell's "History of Camden County." 

"Memoirs Gloucester Fox Hunting Club." 

"Heston's Annals." 

E. P. Tanner's "The Province of New Jersey." 

Cushing & Sheppard's "History of Gloucester, Salem 
and Cumberland Counties." 

Cooper's "Historical Sketch of Camden." 

Fisler's "History of Camden." 
^ Publications of the Atlantic County Historical So- 
ciety. 

Printed Archives State of New Jersey. 

Swedish Settlements on the Delaware. 
• Learning & Spicer's Collections. 

Clement's "Early Settlements of West New Jersey." 

Stryker's "Officers and Men of New Jersey in the 
Revolution." 

Files of Gloucester County Democrat and Woodbury 
Constitution. 

Camden, Woodbury, Haddonfield and Atlantic City 
Free Libraries. 

The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia Libraries. 



33° Notes on Old Gloucester County. 

Manuscript records at State House, Trenton. 
I Manuscript records at Court House, Woodbury. 

Manuscript records at Court House, Mays Landing. 

Manuscript records at Court House, Camden. 

Manuscript records of Haddonfield and Woodbury 
Friends Meetings. 

Manuscript records of Trinity Church, Swedesboro. 

Manuscript records of Moravian Church, Oldmans 
Creek. 

Manuscript records West Jersey Proprietors, Survey- 
^ or General's Office, Burlington. 

Bonsall & Carse's "Sketch of Camden City." 

Historical and Industrial Review of Camden. 

Clay's "Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware." 

"Industries of New Jersey," Part 2, by Historical 
Publishing Company. 

Geographic Dictionary of New Jersey, by Henry 
Gannett. 

De Vries' ''Voyages to America, 1632 to 1644." 

Colonial and Revolutionary Relics of New Jersey, 
1893. Descriptive Catalogue. 

Report on the Condition of the Public Records of the 
State of New Jersey, 19 17. 

Historical Review of Blackwood Presbyterian 
Church, by Rev. F. R. Brace, D. D. 

"Atlantic City, Its Early and Modern History," by 
Carnesworthe. 

Hall's "History of Atlantic City." 

English's "History of Atlantic City." 

"Outline History of the Presbyterian Church in West 
or South Jersey from 1700 to 1865," by Alfred Martien. 

"Revolutionary Reminiscenses of Camden County," 
by John Clement. 

Atlas and History of the New Jersey Coast, by 
Woolman & Rose. 

"Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West New Jer- 
sey and Delaware," by Albert Cook Myers. 



Notes on Old Gloucester County. 331 

"Swedish Churches in New Sweden," by Israel 
Acrelius. 

Heston's "Historical Calendar of New Jersey." 

Poems of Rev. Nathaniel Evans. 

Smith's "History of New Jersey." 

"History and Collections of New Jersey," by Barber 
& Howe. 

"History and Gazateer of New Jersey," by Thos. F. 
Gordon. 

"History of New Jersey," by Isaac S. Mulford, M. D. 

"New Jersey as a Colony and as a State," by Francis 
B. Lee. 

"Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791- 

1815." 



The New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 
Officers 1917 



President, 
H. K. MULFORD. 

Vice-President, 
J. B. VAN SCIVER. 

Secretary, 
WILLIAM J. CONLEN. 

Treasurer, 
C. STANLEY FRENCH. 



Directors, 

JAMES B. BORDEN, 

GEORGE B. HURFF, 

JOSEPH H GASKILL, 

T. MONROE DOBBINS, 

J. W. SPARKS, 

W. COPELAND FURBER, 

JOHN D. JOHNSON, 

W. J. PERKINS, 

CLAYTON F. SHOEMAKER. 



Committees 1917 



Banquet Committee, 

C. Stanley French, Chairman. 
William J. Conlen, 
J. B. Borden, 
Richard Campion, 
Henry W. Leeds. 



Auditing Committee, 
Henry C. Thompson, Jr., 



Chairman. 



Joseph H. Parvin, 
*William B. Riley, 
Charles J. Webb. 



Speakers Committee, 

Hon. E. C. Stokes, Chairman. 
Hon. J. Hampton Moore, 
Samuel T. Bodine, 
Ellwood R. Kirby, M. D. 
Hon. Lewis Starr. 



Finance Committee, 

Howard B. French, Chairman. 
Nathan T. Folwell, 
A. Merritt Taylor, 
Francis B. Reeves, 
Heulings Lippincott. 



Membership Committee, 

J. W. Sparks, Chairman. 
N. W. Corson, 
Edward H. Levis, 
George B. Hurfe, 
Richard C. Ballinger. 



Publicity Committee, 

Charles E. Hires, Chairman. 
F. Wayland Ayer, 
J. B. Van Sciver, 
R. C. Ware. 



Biographical and Historical 
Committee, 

Louis B. Moefett, Chairman. 
William Copeland Furber, 
Hon. Reuben O. Moon, 
Henry S. Haines, 
Hon. Lewis Starr. 



Outing Committee, 

Frank H. Stewart, Chairman. 

Howard M. Cooper, 

Dr. Wallace McGeorge, 

J. Haines Lippincott, 

Edward S. Thorpe, 

T. Monroe Dobbins. 



Historian, 
Frank H. Stewart. 



* Deceased. 



List of Members 



Armstrong, P. Wallis— Charter. 
Armstrong, George H.— Charter. 
Armstrong, Wynn — Charter. 
Armstrong, Edward Ambler- 
Charter 
Armstrong, Thomas F. 
Ayer, F. W. 

Bishop, John I.— Charter. 
Borton, Joshua E — Charter. 
Budd, Thomas J.— Charter. 
Buckman, John W. — Charter 
Brown, Joseph E. 
Ballinger, Richard C. 
Biddle, Charles Miller 
Bodine, Harry E. 
Bartlett, Charles F. 
Bowen, Samuel B. 
Ballinger, Edwin Heckman 
Browning, William J. 
Borden, James B. 
Bergen, George J. 
Baird, David, Jr. 
Bell, C. Edward 
Bateman, Frank 
Broughton, Chas. E. 
Burt, John 
Bodine, Samuel T. 
Borden, Josiah B 
Borden, F. M. 
Brown, Chas. W. 
Biddle, Robert, 2d. 
Biddle, Charles, Jr. 
Borden, John Hance 
Batten, Clarence H. 
Bateman, Fred. H. 

Cooper, Joseph W. — Charter. 
Campion, Richard — Charter. 
Cross, Joseph 
Cooper, William J. 
Closson, James Harwood 
Collins, David J. 
Conlen, William J. 
Coles, John W. 
Conkling, Edward N. 
Campbell, Joseph S. 
Cattell, William C. 
Cresse, Wadsworth 



Cook, Thomas H. 
Cooke, Armith H. 
Corson, Newton W. 

.Dudley, Edward — Charter. 
De Camp, A. J.— Charter. 
Deacon, Benjamin — Charter. 
Dobbins, T. Monroe — Charter. 
Doughten, Wm. W. 
Davis, Ellison H. 
De Camp, A. Neville 
Duane, Russell 
Dunn, John C. 
Doughten, Wm. S. 

Endicott, Allen B— Charter. 
Edmunds, Henry R. — Charter. 
Emery, William 
Eveland, F W. 
Early, William 
Edmunds, Chas. H. 
Edmunds, N. Perry 

French, Howard B. — Charter. 
French, J. Hansell — Charter. 
French, C. Stanley— Charter. 
Folwell, William H.— Charter. 
Folwell, Nathan T— Charter. 
Folwell, P. Donald— Charter. 
French, Thomas E. — Charter. 
Furber, William Copeland — 

Charter. 
Folwell, Charles H. 
French, Harry B. 
French, C. Dunning 
Gwilliam, John 
French, Samuel H., 3d. 
Frazier, Daniel B. 
Fogg, Charles M. 
Fogg, Robert S. 
Fort, Pierson T. 

Gibbs, W. W.— Charter. 
Gaskill, Nelson B.— Charter. 
Gill, Joseph C— Charter. 
Grundy, Joseph R. — Charter. 
Gaskill, Joseph H.— Charter. 
Gaskill, Henry Kennedy (M. D.) 
Gaunt, G. W. F. 



List oe Members. 



335 



Leeds, Henry W. — Charter. 
Lippincott, J. Haines — Charter. 
Lippincott, J. Bertram 
LeBar, Frank 
Lober, John B. 
Lippincott, Walter H. 
Lippincott, O. C. 
Hollingshead, Irvin W. — Charter.Lippincott, Wm. R. 



Grosscup, Edward 
Githens, Horace G. 
Gilmour, Dr. H. Lake 
Gibbon, Charles S. 
Gunn, George C. 
Gilmore, S. C. 



Horner, John G. — Charter. 

Hamilton, Charles R. — Charter. 

Hurff, George B. 

Hutchinson, John P. 

Hendrickson, Joseph D. 

Humphreys, Harry R. 

Hildreth, James M. E. 

Hires, Charles E. 

Hagert, Edwin 

Hurley, William Leonard 

Hatch, Cooper B. 

Hancock, Walter C. 

Hedley, T. Wilson 

Hunt, Walter Evans 

Hughes, Robert D. 

Hires, Lucius E. 

Haines, Henry P. (Honorary 

Member) 
Hilson, Hugh H. 
Hutchinson, John H. 
Hewitt, W. Stirling 
Hires, Charles E., Jr. 
Hires, Russell R. 
Hancock, Clinton C. 
Hurff, Eldorus 
Hulme, Thomas W. 



Lippincott, Edmund N. 

Moore, J. Hampton — Charter. 
Mulford, H. K.— Charter. 
Moon, Reuben O. — Charter. 
Morton, Newton 
Moffett, Louis B. 
Morgan, Allen S. 
Massey, William E. 
Mulford, H. K., Jr. 
Mallery, Otto T. 
Meyer, Arthur L. 
Maclntire, Fred. H. 



Newton, Joseph R. 
Newton, Mahlon W. 

Pedrick, William, Jr. — Charter. 
Parvin, Joseph H. 
Perkins, John H. 
Prickitt, Cooper H. 
Perkins, W. J. 
Pancoast, Wm. G. 
Pettit, Jonathan G. 
Plummer, William 
Perkins, E. Russell 



Joline, Charles Van Dyke- 
Johnson, John D. 
Jessup, George W. 
Johnson, Howard Cooper 
Jessup, Cooper 
Jessup, Charles G. 



Kelly, James D. 

Kaighn, Joseph 

Kuser, B. C. 

Kuser, R. V. 

Kelsey, Henry C. 

Kirby, Ellwood R (M. D.) 

Knox, Kerro 

Kugler, Victor E. 



Charter.Reeves, Francis B. — Charter. 
Rainear, A. Rusling — Charter. 
Roydhouse, George W— Charter 
Read, Edmund E., Jr.— Charter. 
Robb, Walter E. 
Reeves, Frank H. 
Rudderow, Maurice B. 
Robbins, Samuel K. 
Read, William Thackara 
Ridgway, Caleb S. 
Reeves, Charles Carroll, Jr. 
Rue, William Harry- 
Roberts, Howard E. 
Reeves, S. French 
Reeves, Francis B., Jr. 



Learning, Edmund B. — Charter 
Lippincott, Heulings— Charter. 
Levis, Edward H— Charter. 
Lippincott, Walter— Charter. 



Stokes, Edward Casper 
Stites, A. Judson — Charter. 
Starr, Lewis — Charter. 
Starr, Jesse W., Jr. — Charter. 



336 



List oe Members. 



Steelman, A. Lincoln 
Synnott, Thomas W. 
Shoemaker, Clayton French 
Sparks, J. W. 
Swackhammer, Austin H. 
Sharp, Walter P. 
Steelman, Daniel S. 
Stewart, Frank H. 
Stites, Fletcher W. 
Slack, Fred. A. 

Thompson, Henry C, Jr. — Charter 

Taylor, A. Merritt— Charter. 

Taylor, C. Clifford 

Thorpe, Benjamin 

Thorn, H. Norman 

Tyler, George H. 

Thorpe, Edward Sheppard 



Van Sciver, J. B. 
Veale, Moses 
Van Sciver, Geo. C. 
Vorhies, John C. 

Wood, George — Charter. 
Wood, Walter— Charter. 
Watkins ; David O. 
Watts, Ernest 
Wills, Richard Albert 
White, Blanchard H. 
Walker, Edwin Robert 
Wainwright, A. B. 
Webb, Chas. J. 
Ware, R. C. 
Ware, A. M. 
Woolman, C. S. 
Waddington, E. C. 



Index 



Page. 

Apprentices 57 

Arms and Ammunition 1 14, 1 17 

Assembly, pay of Members of 89-90 

Assessors ( 1708) 13 

Attorneys' Commissions 21 

Attorneys (1740 to 1764) 25 

Authority to Print 4 

Bass, Secretary 90 

Battle of Gloucester 321 

Battle of Red Bank 35 

Bell for Court House, ordered 99 

new, for Court House, ordered no 

Book for Recording Deeds, ordered 99 

Bounty for wolves, foxes, etc 92 

Bridges and Old Roads 14 

Bridges, repairs to 129 

Bridge, Timber Creek, rebuilt 95, 106, 121 

Burial Places, Ancient 265 

Census, Military, 1794 319 

Chestnut Neck, Battle of 307 

Clark, Thomas, Journal of 303 

Clergymen, distinguished 291 

Clerks : 1723-1740 108 

1740-1770 120 

1770-1800 132 

Clerk's Office, plan for erection of 127 

Committees, New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 333 

Constables (1782) 24 

Constables' Staff's 115 

Convicts executed 100, 109 

Cooper Creek Ferry 17 

Cooper's Ferry Road 16 

Cooper, James B 133 

Cornbury, Lord, visit of 88 

Collin, Nicholas, Rev 291 



33 s Index. 

Page, 

Cost of Living 18 

Counterfeit money 122 

County Collectors, 1723-1740 108 

County Collectors, 1740-1770 120 

County Collectors, 1770-1800 132 

County Line, between Salem and Gloucester counties, fixed. .. 116 

Court House and Prison 1 1, 89, 91, 103 

Court House and Prison, contract for 96 

Court House and Prison, old buildings sold 98 

Court House and Prison, repairs to 109 

Court House, addition to (1708) 91 

Court House, damaged by fire 117, 123 

Court House and Jail, site selected 124 

Court House and Jail, first erected 103 

Court House at Woodbury, petition for 123 

Court Records. 9 

Court Records, Revolutionary Period 22 

Croes, John, Rev 291 

Currency, Farm Produce as 13 

Custom House, Little Egg Harbor 313 

Davenport, Gen. Franklin 139 

Death Penalty Enforced 100 

Debt, Imprisonment for 20 

Diary of Samuel Mickle 155 

Ear Mark Book 10 

Early Accounts, 1706 89 

Evans, Nathaniel, Rev 292 

Families. Gloucester County in the West 320 

Family Names, spelling of 261 

Fees, license 25 

Ferry, Cooper Creek 17 

Fire Company, Woodbury 151 

Fire Engine, Contributions for 129 

First Quakers in Old Gloucester 263 

Foreword 5 

Freeholders, fined 101 

records from 1701 87 

1716 94 

1721 99 

1722 101 



Index. 339 

Page. 
Freeholders, 

1723-1740 io 7 

1740-1770 i x 9 

1770-1800 I 3 I 

Gloucester County, its formation and divisions 289 

Gloucester Fox Hunting Club 3 22 

Grand Jurors, 1766 2I 

Guns n 7 

Haddon Hall, of Haddonfield 293 

Handcuffs and irons I0 ° 

Heston, Col. Thomas *43 

Historical Notes 3 l 7 

Historical References 3 2 9 

Historical Society, Gloucester County 3 X 8 

Hunter, Andrew, Rev 2 9 l 

Indian King, The I 47 

Indictments (1770) 11,21 

(1787) 2 5 

Inn and tavern licenses 61 

Irons for prisoners 99 

Jail, construction of 94 

Judges (1779) 24 

Justices and Freeholders 9 2 > 94, 95, 98, 99, K>I, 102 

1716 94 

1721 99 

1722 I01 



1 723-1 740. 



106 



1740-1770 Il 9 

1770-1800 1 3 I 

King's Highway 69 

Lawrence, James 3 l 9 

Library, room selected for i 2 § 

Licenses, Inn and Tavern (1770) 61 

Litle, John, Docket of 3 2 6 

Loan Office 27, 120 

Lord Cornbury, visit of 88 

Members, New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 334 



34° Index. 

Page. 

Merchant, a Gloucester County 51 

Merchants, Philadelphia ( 1779-1791 ) 52 

Mickle, Diary of Samuel 155 

year 1792 157 

1793 158 

1798 162 

1799 163 

1800 165 

1801 168 

1802 171 

1803 174 

1804 176 

1805 179 

1806 180 

1807 183 

1808 185 

1809 187 

1810 189 

1811 190 

1812 191 

1813 194 

1814 197 

1815 199 

1816 201 

1817 204 

1818 207 

1819 210 

1820 213 

1821 215 

1822 218 

1823 221 

1824 226 

1825 232 

1826 239 

1827 245 

1828 249 

1829 252 

Moravian Church yy 

Newbie, Mark, Irish Pence 317 

New Jersey (poem) 3 

Oaks, large white 317 

Officers, New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania 332 



Index. 341 

Page. 

Old Families 26, 27 

Old Residents, 1789-1792 57 

Old Trinity Church 29 

Otto, Dr. Bodo, Jr., Life of 3°9 

Parliamentary Rules 100 

Poor House, considered 129 

farm purchased 130 

Post offices, Gloucester County (1800) 319 

Prisoners, cost of keeping 90 

Records, missing from 1748 to 1755 21 

Red Bank, Battle of 35 

Revolution, Men of 321 

Revolutionary Period 22, 121, 255, 304 

Roads 14, 25, 128 

Cooper's Ferry 16 

new 17 

laid out 126 

Road Houses 18 

Saw, Grist, Fulling Mills, taxes 101 

Sheriff's expenses 108 

Slavery 65 

Slaves set free by 66 

Somers, Richard 320 

Surveyors (1744) 19 

Taverns 20 

Tavern licenses 22, 61 

Taxation, how levied in 1762 113 

Taxes levied 87,93, T °o 

against certain property owners 101, 105, 113 

Taxes, 1708 12, 91 

Things taxed 113 

Township Book, Great Egg Harbor 55 

Township Divisions hi 

Lines, cost of running 112 

Officials, Deptford (1779) 23 

Trinity Church 29 

Watch and Work House 104 

Whipper imported 108 



342 Index. 

Page. 

Whipping Post 22 

Whipping Post, stocks, etc 89, 98, 104 

Whitall, Ann, Diary of 315 

Whitall, Job, Diary of — year of 1776 255 

1777 256 

Wild Beasts killed ■ 104 

Wolves and Panthers 93, 95, 104, 108 

Woodbury Fire Co 150 



